Plague
by Sassyblondexoxo
Summary: Something horrible is attacking the city of New York...and it's spreading quickly. Winner of 2005 Fanfic Awards Best Horror and second place Best Story of the Year.
1. It Starts

"**PLAGUE"**

Rated PG-13 for violence and a few swears.  
The boys are approximately 21 years old.

_**Ring around the rosie  
**__**Pocket full of posie  
**__**Ashes, Ashes  
**_**_We all fall down._**

**

* * *

CHAPTER 1: IT STARTS **

**DONATELLO**

"Eight ball. Corner pocket."

I dismissed Raphael's intentions with a roll of my eyes. "No way. You make that, and I'll go upstairs and get the next round."

Raphael shot me a cocky grin. Leaning his body on the table, I watched him slide the pool cue between his fingers as he lined up the shot. I rarely saw him concentrate on anything so intensely. "Watch and learn Donnie," he quipped, eyes never losing focus on the ceramic ball.

As Casey and I fell silent, the gentle hum of the air conditioner could be heard from the basement storeroom. The tension in the air was almost tangible. Casey's gaze darted from Raphael's hand to the pocket, trying to estimate his chances.

_Nothing like a friendly game of pool to send the testosterone level through the roof…_

In a sudden outburst of energy, Raphael executed his shot with a perfect blend of power and accuracy. The ball rolled effortlessly into its target.

"Crap."

"Hey Donnie," Raphael mused, whipping the pool cue around his hand, "Grab some pretzels while you're up there."

I heard Casey clear his throat, shaking the bottle he was holding. Only a small amount of liquid swished back and forth in the bottom.

"Don't worry Case." I grumbled. "Is there anything else I can get for your Highnesses?"

"Well, let's see…" Raphael smiled slyly, his mind running through the possibilities. Not waiting for his smart-mouth remark, I jogged toward the stairs, taking them two at a time. The sudden movement made my breath quicken after spending so many sedentary hours in the basement.

The kitchen was dark, the only light coming from the glowing numbers on the microwave. I squinted my eyes, trying to read the time from across the room. _11:48_. It was late; I probably should have cut them off two drinks ago. Sighing, I reached for one of the cabinets to begin looking for Raphael's pretzels.

The sound was so soft I almost missed it. Nothing more than a shuffle, a slight scratch coming from the apartment front door. I felt my body freeze, the rush of adrenaline tingling in my finger tips. I stood in absolute silence, waiting for the noise to continue down the hallway.

Nothing.

I tried to suppress the idea that something could be wrong, but my subconscious tugged. It was a warrior instinct, and I'd learned long ago not to ignore it. I felt my heart pounding under my plastron as I crept into the living room, senses on full alert. My hand moved reflexively to the bo strapped on my back.

I positioned myself along the wall, hoping my form would blend into its surface. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I began to make out the fuzzy outlines of Casey's living room furniture. Easing towards the door, I tensed again when I heard another sound. This one was louder; a harsh, rasping noise that seemed to originate in the back of someone's throat. It strengthened, rising in a terrifying crescendo that shook the front door in its frame.

My skin started to crawl.

All at once the door exploded open, thrown backward by the weight of two hulking shadows. Bathed in the yellow light of the hallway, I caught a glimpse of one's face as it stepped into the apartment. It was man – or what was left of a man. One of his eyes was completely missing, the socket filled with a creamy fluid that wept down the side of his cheek. The other eye was pitch black. It contrasted sharply with the paleness of his face, which was punctuated with several red welts. His lower lip drooped away from his mouth, sticky saliva flowing off the end and onto the floor.

_It was if something had drained the very essence of the man's soul._

It took only a few seconds for the pair to see me. Limbs swinging wildly, one threw a lamp violently against the wall in a fit of rage. The other rushed directly at me. I had just enough time to let out a startled "Wha-?!?" before I felt my shell slam into the back wall.

Disoriented, I held my bo against the man's throat as he raved and snarled only inches from my face. His breath was hot with the rancid smell of death.

I tried to sweep the man's feet out from under him, but only succeeded in bring us both crashing to the floor. He outweighed me by nearly fifty pounds, and I struggled to breathe as his bulk fell against my chest. His hands fought to pin my arms while his teeth made chomping motions in the air in front of me. I struggled against him as best as I could, panic overtaking me when I recognized that I couldn't move.

Suddenly a scream pierced through the room, an ugly sound that dripped with rage and pain. It was followed with a crunch, and I saw the coffee table collapse as the other figure fell to the ground. His partner whipped his head toward the noise, but it was quickly jerked backwards as a green hand pulled him by the hair. Neck open and exposed, I watched the blade of Raphael's sai slice across the skin, blood splattering around me. The body jerked spastically for a few moments, then went limp. Raphael tossed it to the floor.

My eyes met my brothers, watching him pant with shock and exertion. Raph held only one weapon, and I realized that the other was impaled in the chest of the second body. He must have heard the crash from the basement; I silently thanked God that the alcohol hadn't affected his speed.

"You okay?" Raphael asked me, kneeling by my side. I didn't move. I was still trying to get over the disbelief of what I just saw. The whole attack had lasted less than a minute. Even though they were dead, I couldn't shake the fear that was still radiating through me.

"Yeah," I managed to whisper. I concentrated on my breathing, trying to calm myself.

Raphael offered me a hand, and I allowed him to help me off the floor. The two of us stood, back to back, studying the bodies in front of us.

"Hey Don?" Raphael paused, gaze transfixed on one of the men's faces. "What the hell just happened?"

**

* * *

MICHAELANGELO **

"Do you mind?" April asked, holding a pillow just above my lap. I shook my head, watching her stretch her legs out and lay down. Her hair tickled my skin as it spilled across the pillow.

The soft glow of the TV lit the room, mixing with the moonlight that streamed in through the window. The volume was up high, probably too high for the late hour. But April insisted, saying that her neighbors always went out on Saturday nights anyway. Plus, she'd added, the true glory of Top Gun could only be appreciated with the loud booming of the airplanes. And Tom Cruise's sexy voice.

I had to admit that I was having trouble concentrating on the movie. Even before she was laying on me, the smell of her perfume kept drawing my attention away from the TV. Feeling her so close to me now was making my breath catch in my throat. I knew I didn't have a chance with her – I would never be considered more than a friend. None of my brothers would. But it didn't change the growing effect that she had on me.

Without warning, everything stopped. The screen went black and the room was consumed by darkness. Even the street lights outside flickered briefly, then turned off.

"Great." April said sarcastically, lifting herself off of my legs. She started feeling her way around the furniture as she moved toward the window.

_Yeah, great._

"Looks like the power's out," she whined. Her forehead was pressed against the glass as she stared out the window.

"What was your first clue?" I joked, watching the curtains billow around her shadowed silhouette. She didn't answer my question, standing in silence for a few moments; then I heard her gasp.

I knew that sound. _Fear_. I was at her side almost instantly, trying to see what it was that had caught her attention. My eyes probed the street, scanning the shadows for signs of movement. I didn't have to search very long.

A group of people were chasing a woman and a child between the parked cars. The woman held the little boy's hand, jerking him up the curb as she dashed down the sidewalk. Her effort was in vain. The leader of the group caught the boy's shirt, dragging him from his mother's grasp. I watched her stop and turn, just as she was tackled by another two group members. They sat on top of her, pinning her to the pavement.

I couldn't believe what was happening. My eyes were riveted to the scene, like a bad car accident that you couldn't look away from. One of the men had his jaw locked on the child's shoulder, throwing him against the window of a red truck. The mother was still on the ground, the two figures trying to push each other away as they wrestled with her. As I watched, another big group of people poured from the front door of a building across from April's. They fanned out into the moonlit street, trying to decide on a direction to go. While they paused, a long haired woman grabbed the base of a streetlight, shaking it viciously. A feeling of horror spread through me. Another one of them was missing an arm.

_What was going on?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? _

April must have seen it too. She staggered backward, her legs buckling under her. I thought she was fainting, but her breath stayed ragged as I caught her.

"M…Mike…" She whimpered, on the verge of hyperventilating.

I couldn't find my voice to comfort her. Panic was filling my chest as I continued to observe the events outside. The crowd had finally decided on where to run.

_Up the front steps of April's apartment building_.

**_

* * *

Author's note: A little short, but I wanted to see how people would react before I post any more. This is going to turn into sort-of a cross over between the movies "28 Days Later" and "Dawn of the Dead". If you're confused, don't worry – all will be explained (eventually). Take things in context with the title. _**

**_While planning this story, I've realized that both movies have significant plot holes, which I think I've come up with reasonings for. You'll just have to work with me. There's been a lot of brainstorming between me and my husband today! _**

**_And don't worry Leo fans; he will make a glorified entrance in the second chapter…_**


	2. Heroics and Hysteria

**Author's Note:**

First of all, let me say THANK YOU! You guys absolutely overwhelmed me with your reviews – I wasn't expecting half of the response that I got. You sure do know how to make a girl happy! I especially appreciate those of you who took the time to read that aren't exactly fans of this genre. Believe me though, this is hopefully going to turn out to be much more than just a horror type fic – I can only pray that you still stick with me! So now the pressure's on…

This one took a little longer because I paused a day to do a little research. I really wrote the first chapter without much planning, and when I started to outline the plot, I realized that this was going to be MUCH harder than I thought. I watched both movies over again, finding even more problems to deal with that I hadn't thought of. I think that I have most things under control…

Hopefully I'll be able to keep my updates regular, but they may get a little sporadic depending when my tests fall.

**So now, to answer your reviews:**

First, to all of you, about the zombie thing - all I can say is sort of, but not totally. You'll have to wait and gain the information as the boys do!

**Amy:** Wow! That's one of the best compliments I've ever received – you really blew me away, and I hope that I don't disappoint you! Thank you so much for reading.

**T:** Don't worry, Leo is on his way…

**Mickis:** Yeah, I was hoping that this hadn't been done before. I racked my brain for days trying to come up with a new idea. Now I'll just have to censor myself a little to keep the PG-13 rating…

**Lexy8:** Heh, didn't mean to scare you. I made the mistake of watching The Grudge on the night before my husband went on a business trip – HUGE MISTAKE!

**PurplexPhsyche:** Thanks for the compliment. Hope that you enjoy!

**Governmentcontractor:** Thanks! I've heard of Shaun of the Dead, but never seen it. I'm assuming it's a parody – too bad I'm not funnier, or else that would be fun to try! I really appreciate you reading this!

**Kristy99:** Nice deduction…

**Reluctant Dragon:** Nice to see that you stopped by! I was hoping that I could grab people's attention – hope I still hold onto it!

**GemDrive:** I've always loved pool too – it always has a way of bringing out the competition in guys…something definitely suited for Raphael and Casey!

**Fallen Hikari:** Thanks for reading – I always enjoy hearing from you! I hope that you continue to enjoy this, even if it is a little bloody. Trust me, it will be more than that.

**Lunar Ninja:** Sorry! I know this isn't your style at all (with the violence and a little swearing) but I really appreciate you reading anyway! I didn't mean to scar you…Anyways, keep up the good work with Tatsu Morph!

**Lioness-Goddess:** Don't worry, things will be revealed little by little…

**Quesun:** Yeah, I figured that this would be up your alley! I feel more comfortable writing in the first person, and the different points of view seemed like a good way to do it. I also have to give credit to sss979, whose stories I first saw this done in.

**Linchi:** I know, the song freaks me out too. I wondered if anyone would ask why I put it in – the real reason is that it was originally written about the bubonic plague in England. Ring around the rosie was about the lesions, and pocket full of posie was about flowers that they kept in their pockets to ward off the disease. Ashes refer to burning the bodies, we all fall down is about people dying. Pretty morbid children's song, huh?

**Pacphys:** Howdy! Great to hear from you! I won't answer your question, seeing as it might give something away….smiles

**Blix:** Glad that you're reading!

**

* * *

Ok, so here we go!**

Disclaimer: Yes, I forgot this again. I don't own the boys/April/Casey, or the two movies 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead. Please beware of some violence and swearing.

"_**By the pricking of my thumbs,  
**__**Something wicked this way comes."  
**_**-William Shakespeare, _MacBeth_**

**CHAPTER 2: HEROICS AND HYSTERIA**

**LEONARDO**

I sighed, reaching my arms upward and stretching my shoulders. The movement caused a light shift of air, flickering the candles around the meditation mat. I sat and watched the shadows dance eerily across the room.

As much as I tried, I just couldn't feel him tonight.

_God Master, will there ever be a time when I don't miss you?_

Rising slowly, I blew out the flames and thought about going to bed. But I knew I wasn't tired. I'd taken the day off from working out, and that was probably why I couldn't concentrate on my meditation. Lack of exercise always made my muscles feel twitchy and anxious.

I decided instead to head to April's. She and Michaelangelo were both night owls, and they'd probably be up for at least another few hours watching movies. Besides, I knew that I needed the company right now; it was hard to be alone when I was missing Master Splinter this much. Although he'd passed over a year ago, there were some nights when the loss seemed so fresh. My heart would feel like it was breaking all over again.

The air in the sewer tunnel felt warmer than it should for early June. I was perspiring within only a few minutes of leaving the lair. Summertime was always difficult for us, and I had a feeling that we were in for an especially bad one this year. Raphael would always complain about how hot it was, pestering Donatello about rigging an air conditioner. They had the same argument every summer.

The buzz of my cell phone almost made me jump. It started into a lively rendition of William Tell's Overture – Michaelangelo's ring. I answered it, surprised when I heard April's voice instead of my brother's.

"Leo? God, where are you? People are going crazy up here! I'm locked in my bedroom and Mike is-"

"Whoa April! You gotta slow down," I interrupted. "I'm almost to your place right now. What do mean, people are going crazy?"

"They're _killing _each other out in the street!" She was practically yelling into the phone. "You have to help us-" there was a loud rumble from the background, and I heard her scream Mike's name.

I broke into a run.

**

* * *

MICHAELANGELO**

I knew we were screwed.

With the slow-motion time sense of a nightmare, I'd scooped April up and brought her to the back bedroom. I didn't think that she had the mindset to do it herself. The short journey only required a few seconds, but it felt like hours as I rushed down the hallway. Throwing her on the bed, I'd tossed her my phone, telling her to call Leo. With Don and Raph at Casey's, he was probably the closest. Twisting the lock on my way out, I ran back to face whoever - or _whatever_ - was coming to the front door.

_What the hell was wrong with these people?_

Mind racing, I tried desperately to think of some sort of plan. My biggest problem was the door itself. April's building was old, and there weren't any deadbolts protecting the apartments. The lock that was there was rudimentary, and we'd been begging her for months to replace it. I knew that if anybody _really _wanted to get in, they probably could.

The other problem was that I didn't see anything to reinforce it. Everything in the living room was either too heavy for me to lift by myself, or too light to do any good. So I did the only thing that I could think of. I stood back and waited for the best workout I'd had in a very, very long time.

Holding my breath, I heard the pounding of footsteps in the lobby. Heard them clatter up the stairs. From the noise and what I'd seen out the window, I estimated that there were at least twenty of them. Briefly, I wondered exactly what I was going to do if they did try to get in. Should I take killing shots? Jeez, some of them were women! And I had no idea what was happening or what they were after…

The first few people ran right by April's apartment and continued down the hallway. For a few seconds, I thought that maybe we'd get lucky and they'd leave us alone altogether.

_Nope_.

_Shit!_

Following a ghastly screech, someone began throwing themself against the door. The voice hardly sounded human. Moments later a second person joined, then a third. I watched the top hinges break first, sending a rain of splintering wood across the welcome mat. A final blow sent the door falling forwards, a body toppling through and landing on the floor.

My eyes had adjusted enough to the darkness to tell that it was the woman without an arm. Blood was still spurting from the mangled stump in steady pulses, mimicking the beating of her heart. She stayed face down, twitching and kicking as two other men trampled over her.

The first one came at me quickly. His gait was choppy and off balance, easily taken down by a simple roundhouse kick. The second seemed even more disoriented, colliding with a tall glass vase that sat beside the living room couch. It hit the ground forcefully, shattering into hundreds of tiny pieces. April's muffled scream echoed from the bedroom.

Bad move on her part. While I swung at the second guy, three more people crammed through the doorway. Hearing the scream, their attention diverted from me and focused deeper into the apartment. They scrambled frantically toward the source of her voice.

One woman slipped on the broken glass, and I was able to grab hold of her shirt. Angrily she spun, hissing and clawing at my neck. I threw her back over the couch, where she crumpled into a heap. By the time I'd turned to face the others, they'd already slipped past me into the hallway.

"HEY!" I yelled as loud as I could. "Come back and fight you frickin' wackos!"

It worked. Whatever was wrong with these people, it certainly didn't make them any smarter. The pair came charging back at me, their arms swinging with rage. I took them both out at once, kicking one in the face and flipping the other over my shoulder. As they fell, three more rushed in to take their place.

_Big._ That was as much as I could tell about the next three in the darkness. One was coughing uncontrollably, sending some sort of liquid splattering to the floor. I was glad I couldn't see what it was. Instead of waiting for them to come to me, I rushed them, slapping one hard across the face with a nunchuck. He squealed in pain, tripping over one of the bodies sprawled on the floor.

Just after my weapon connected, I heard another crunch at my feet. A piece of glass drove upwards into my heel, causing my knee to buckle in surprise and agony. I went down. As I fell, I tried to twist onto my back, so at least I'd have one leg free to defend myself.

Thank God I didn't have to.

Warm liquid hit my plastron, pooling in the center and then running down my sides. Blood. Squinting, I realized that each man had at least ten inches of sharpened metal protruding from their stomachs.

Leonardo.

I shut my eyes, letting myself catch my breath. The katanas made a sickening slicing noise when he withdrew them, pulling the bodies back into the hallway.

"You hurt?" Leonardo asked, his voice flat. It always got that way when he was fighting.

"M'alright."

"Get April and go up the fire escape. All the way to the roof. There's people everywhere out there."

I used my shell to roll to my feet, doing my best not to limp. Leonardo remained in the doorway, guarding the entrance.

Hand on the wall, I moved as fast as I could to April's bedroom. I knocked gently, hoping not to scare her.

"April, open the door. It's Mike."

There was pause, then the door creaked opened tentatively. There was banging on the floor above us, at least two or three sets of running footsteps. She almost withdrew back into the bedroom, but I grabbed her hand.

"We gotta move April. We're going to the roof."

"Okay," she whispered, tightening her grip on my hand. "I can't see very well."

_That's probably a good thing. _

I lead her back to the living room, careful to guide her around the bodies littering the floor. I noticed how horrible it smelled in here; it was so bad I couldn't even characterize it. As we crossed to the window, I saw that Leo had moved outside the apartment door, taking on at least two people from one side.

April unlocked the window, hauling it open with a soft groan.

The din from outside was almost overwhelming. It was mostly screaming, with an occasional car horn or breaking glass. The street was now filled with people, all moving frantically in different directions. It was hard to tell who was chasing and who was being chased. I watched a man get tackled on the front lawn, being ripped open by two younger women.

"April, go!" I put my hands on her hips, half guiding and half pushing her out the window and onto the fire escape. She stumbled, but quickly got her bearings and started climbing. I followed close behind her.

The apartment was five stories high, so it didn't take us too long to reach the roof. I glanced behind me, hoping to see Leonardo. Instead, I got another adrenaline rush.

A few of the people below had seen us on the ladder and were now climbing on top of a dumpster. Though their movements were spastic, I recognized that it was just a matter of time before they made it onto the fire escape.

"LEO!" I knew that my voice was lost in all the noise, but I yelled anyway. I watched the second story landing frantically, debating whether to leave April and go back for him. Thankfully, I saw my brother jump through the window a few seconds later.

He was moving fast. Really fast. It didn't take long before I saw why. When he'd reached the third floor, people started emerging out of April's apartment. The first few just stood on the landing, jumping up and down and shaking the railing. But then a man started to climb up after him, followed by two more women.

Nearing the roof, I saw Leo stop, pulling a katana from his back. He started hacking as hard as he could at the sides of the ladder below him. With a few hard hits from each side, the metal split. He then climbed to the top, and I helped pull him over the edge.

"Here, get that side," Leo said, tossing me the other katana. We each cut through our respective bar, relieved when the piece of ladder fell gracefully to the street below.

Still panting, Leonardo started to jog along the side of the roof. He was looking over the edge, making sure that there was no other way up. I wanted to help, but the pain in my foot was starting to radiate up my entire leg. Blood still leaked slowly from my heel. I winced, trying to turn it up so I could see the wound. Only the tip of a large shard of glass protruded. The rest was still embedded up into the tissue.

April stood for a few moments watching the ladder. I could tell that her body was still shaking. When she was satisfied that no one could follow us up, she came and sat beside me, resting her head on my shoulder. Neither of us spoke. Leonardo joined us a few minutes later. He laid all the way onto his back, sides heaving with exertion.

"Hey Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Call Raph."


	3. Divided

**Author's Note:**

Thank you to everyone who's taken the time to read, and to those who reviewed. Your compliments have kept a smile on my face for days!

This was a tough one for me. Took me three tries before I got something that I was willing to post. But first, a response to your reviews:

**Linchi:** Yeah, I figured you probably knew the story, but I thought I'd throw that out there just in case. Definitely disturbing. Congrats on finishing "Red"!

**Reinbeauchaser:** Believe me, my husband still gives me sarcastic comments about loving the TMNT so much. I got him to watch the first two movies with me a couple months ago, and since then he's actually admitted to liking the cartoon too…As for the guys acting a little wiser, I guess I see them in more of the movie sense then the cartoon. Plus they are quite a bit older (21), so hopefully that explains a lot. Thanks for your comments – they are always insightful!

**Pacphys:** Thanks! No, I've only seen a few episodes of Buffy, but I think I can picture what it would be like. Thanks for your review!

**KC:** How's your popcorn? That sounds good right now…

**Mickis:** I'm still laughing from chapter 4 of Deputy Wildlifers…here's some more Donnie for you!

**Blix:** Thanks! Don't bounce out of your chair!

**Fallen Hikari: **Oooh, you're putting ideas in my head…guess you'll have to wait to see if Mike is ok. I can be sure that you won't be eating any pizza while you do! LOL. I still haven't told y'all exactly what's happening, and nobody's totally figured it out either…

**Reluctant Dragon:** Thanks for your review! Yes, in Dawn of the Dead the only way to definitively kill the already dead zombies was with a shot to the head. But the guys still aren't sure if these people are dead or not…

**Sprite:** You cracked me up. A whole page?!?!? Holy crap…I'd like to see that (do I sense a challenge being given?) You made my day with your review…mind telling me what other story has you roped in?

**Lunar-Ninja:** I'd love for Rijinn to review this…it seems more his style!

**Quesun:** (blush) Thank you. I'm so glad that you're enjoying this – I'm enjoying your story as well! So you're worried about Mikey to - it's going to be just a little longer before you find out how this is spread…

**Midnight Heir**: Glad to hear from you! I wish that I could answer your question, but I'm trying not to give too much away! I will say that zombie isn't quite the right word…

**T: **Yes, unfortunately Splinter is dead. Although I didn't say so in the chapter, I guess in my mind he passed from old age. I think I decided to leave him out of this because I have so much trouble writing him…lol, I was trying to make things easier for myself!

**Silver Snow Leopard:** Hey! I just got your review before I posted this. Glad that you liked it!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Get it? Got it? Good.  
Please be aware of violence and swearing. 

"**_United we stand…  
_**_**Divided we fall?"**_

**CHAPTER 3: DIVIDED **

**RAPHAEL**

From what I'd seen, and definitely from what I'd heard, something was seriously wrong with the two men lying on Casey's apartment floor. I reached for the wall behind me, feeling for the light switch.

"What the…" Casey's voice trailed off as he stepped into the living room. After a brief moment of squinting in the sudden brightness, his eyes widened in disbelief.

Puddles of blood continued to seep into the carpet under the dead bodies. Although I couldn't see the far man's face, the other seemed to be looking right at me. At least with the one eye that he had left. His mouth gaped open, lips twisted into a silent scream as the blood ran from his neck. There was also evidence of some other wounds on his cheek, slightly below his ear. They almost looked like bite marks.

Something had happened to these guys _before_ they attacked Donatello.

Don lightly toed at the man's leg. Seeing no response, he seemed satisfied that the intruder was indeed dead. His gaze shifted to the front door, still hanging crooked in its frame. Tapping his bo against his palm, I watched him move to check the hallway. For once, he was heedless to the possibility of running into any other tenants.

Casey still looked shocked. I don't think he could decide what was more upsetting – the fact that I'd just _killed_ two people, or that I'd made a horrific _mess_ of his living room. I guessed more of latter. Casey wasn't the kind of guy to win any sensitivity awards.

I retrieved my own weapon from the second body, wiping the tip on the dead man's shirt before slipping it back into my belt. Seeing the location of the wound, I couldn't help but grin. Almost perfectly centered. Pretty damn good for in the dark.

"Uh, guys? You wanna take a look at this?" Don asked, standing with his back to us in the doorway. He took a few hesitant steps forward, disappearing around the corner.

Casey and I exchanged glances.

_Great. What could possibly be more interesting than in here?_

Blood. Lots of it. It painted the walls in fine mist, unlike the congealing puddles in Casey's apartment. Most of it was concentrated right outside the door, underneath a jagged crack in the opposite wall. It looked as if someone had been thrown against it.

A sense of fear still hung in the air, left by the unfortunate soul that bared the brunt of the destruction.

What bothered me most were the red footprints that continued down the hall.

With his fingertips, Don traced along the crack and the wall around it. "This is insane," he whispered, mostly to himself. He turned back to me. "We need to go – I don't wanna risk being seen. Besides, I'll be able to think better when we get back to the lair."

I nodded.

"Casey, you should call the police, before somebody else does." Don continued, throwing a wary look at the neighboring doors.

"And tell them what? I've got two _dead guys_ in my apartment! And look at this," he motioned to the gruesome scene in front of him. "How do I explain _this?_"

Silence.

"Guys?"

"Just tell them that you went to a movie, came home, and this is what you found," Donatello said, brushing past Casey shoulder. "We don't have time to think of anything better."

"Yeah, that's going to go over well," Casey mumbled. "So Don, can I blame you when they throw my butt in jail?"

Donatello threw up his hands as he walked back into the apartment.

I started to follow after them when my phone went off. Mike. At least it wasn't Leonardo – I was _not_ looking forward to explaining all this to him. He would undoubtedly find some way to twist things into a lecture…

"Mike, I can't talk now. Don and I are just leaving Casey's."

"Are you guys okay?" He sounded anxious.

_How did he know something was wrong?_

"Yeah, we're fine. Look, I'll talk to you when we get back to the lair."

"Dude, Leo wants you to turn on the TV."

"What? Mike, I told you, I can't-" There was a shuffling noise, and suddenly Leonardo's voice was blaring from the other end.

"Dammit Raphael, turn on the TV!"

I scowled. "You know what Leo? I'm getting really sick of your-"

This time I was cut off by a crash in the kitchen. I whirled, seeing Donatello backpedaling away from something, hauling Casey backwards by his shirt. Both of them scrambled to regain their balance, then froze. Their expressions were locked ahead of them into the next room.

Still holding the phone, I ran to my brother's side, searching for the source of their surprise. When I found it, I felt my body recoil. It was the window that we used to come in and out of Casey's first floor apartment. A woman's face was pressed against it.

Her eyes were cloudy. Menacing. Palms outstretched, she dragged her hands down the side of the glass in repetitive strokes. Smears of saliva coated the area in front of her mouth. It looked as if she'd been _licking_ at the window.

"Raph? Raph! What's going on? Raphael!" Leonardo's muffled voice came from my right hand. I heard his pleas, but I couldn't drag my attention away from the window. The woman's actions were so disturbing; I was mesmerized.

Donatello took the phone away from me.

"Leo, calm down. We've got something really, um, unusual going on over here…Yeah, two guys broke into the place, and…What? On the roof? Is April with you?............Jesus…………Yes, we still have power." Donatello paused, tapping his hand against my shoulder.

"Raph, go look outside. In the living room," he mouthed, still listening to Leonardo on the other end.

I didn't know what I was supposed to look for, but I complied. _More crazy people?_ _Did Don think there were more like the two guys and the woman at the window? _I slipped my finger in between the vertical blinds, lifting one just enough peer through.

Casey lived on a fairly quiet side street, located in a strictly residential part of the city. It was the main reason why we felt so comfortable spending time here. Very few people would be seen coming and going, especially during the nighttime hours. Which is why I was startled to witness a small crowd running down the middle of the street.

People of all ages. They looked like they were being chased. A car rushed by them, driving up onto the curb to avoid hitting anyone. Another person was huddled in the corner of a covered bus stop, hands wrapped protectively around their head. With my ear so close to the window, the distant shrill of police sirens was barely audible.

_Shit._

"Don?"

Donatello lifted his hand, telling me to be quiet. He was still talking to Leonardo, and I could tell that they were disagreeing about something. His voice had risen a few notches.

"Leo, I really think that we should try to get back to the lair…I realize that, but don't you think we could just fight our way through?...Really? Everyone?...No, I'm not sure what's wrong with them." Donatello exhaled sharply out of frustration.

"What did it look like outside?" Casey asked softly, coming to stand beside me.

"People are goin' nuts. There's a big crowd out in the street."

Casey clenched his jaw. His foot was drumming nervously against the floor. I guessed that Don heard what I said, because he made eye contact with me as he continued to talk into the phone.

"Point taken Leo, but-"

Don's head whipped toward the front door. There was nothing there, but I suddenly realized the cause of his concern. Footsteps. Loud, running footsteps.

"Okay Leo, we're going. I'll call you back." He flipped the phone together, then moved toward the basement enterance. He went quickly, motioning for us to follow after him.

I let Casey go first, giving one more bewildered look to the woman at the window. Her actions hadn't changed any. She was like a wind up toy that had gotten stuck in a corner.

Quietly, I jogged down the stairs after Casey. The basement didn't have a door; it bothered me that I couldn't put up a barrier behind us, even if it was more psychological than physical.

The room was how we left it – beer cans were stacked into a pyramid on a card table, pool balls sitting in a rack ready for the next game. One more win and I would have taken home fifty bucks that Casey and I had bet at the beginning of the evening.

It was amazing how much the night had changed in thirty minutes.

"We're going in the storeroom," Donatello told us, sidetracking to one side. He grabbed a clock radio that we had sitting on the card table with the beer cans.

I realized his plan. Or more likely, _Leonardo's_ plan. We were going to barricade ourselves into Casey's tiny back room.

I hesitated, suddenly reluctant to go along with the idea. I recalled Don and Leo's phone conversation – why shouldn't we try to go back to the lair? Or better, try to meet up with them? Wasn't it better if we were all together?

"Wait a minute Don. I don't think I'm cool with this."

Casey, who had already disappeared into the storeroom, stuck his head back around the corner. He eyed Donatello uneasily.

Donatello didn't acknowledge my statement. He pulled the radio cord off the floor, also snatching up a half-eaten bag of Doritos lying by the pool table. Satisfied that there was nothing else of value, he traversed back towards Casey.

I folded my arms across my chest, refusing to follow him. After he'd taken a few steps passed me, he spun, giving me a fractious glare. His voice was low.

"Raph, for once in your life, would you _please_ trust that someone's judgment might be better than your own? I'm not wild about this either, but I think it's the safest thing to do at this point. Especially if I'm at all correct about what's happening up there."

I growled, considering his statement.

"Raph, I'm not going to stand and fight with you. Now please_, get your ass in that room before someone comes running down those stairs_." Donatello stared me down, something that he'd never come close to doing in his entire life. It probably would have made me laugh under different circumstances. I was taken aback by his boldness.

But I also saw something else in his eyes that made me listen.

Fear.

Donatello knew something that I didn't. And it was scaring the shit out of him.

I might have been unbelievably irritated, but I also wasn't stupid. I broke the stare, walking wordlessly into the storeroom. I thought I heard Don sigh as I strode past, as if he'd been holding his breath.

Casey had started wrestling with a large metal tool chest, trying to pull it up from the back corner. Don and I went to help him, and between the three of us we were able to drag it against the door. I lifted some more boxes off of a shelf, further bracing the area around the chest.

Even with the door blocked, I couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness. I didn't like the fact that we were effectively separated from our brothers and April. I watched Casey let his head fall back against the wall, breathing slowly and deliberately. I forgot how difficult this was for him. He was extremely claustrophobic. But in this case, the stark-raving-lunatic-phobia had won out.

Donatello was busy searching for an outlet. He got down on his hands and knees, guiding the radio cord into a space behind a small freezer. Having found what he was looking for, he sat back, flipping the power button.

"Let's see if anyone has any answers."


	4. Voices in the Night

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! Sorry it took so long with this one. School is a major bummer…I hope it's worth the wait!

Thanks a million to all of my reviewers…

**Rene:** I know what you mean about anal retentive. It makes for very slow writing!

**Fallen Hikari: **Hopefully this one won't freak you out quite as bad…

**Pacphys:** I've never stopped giggling about Casey's claustrophobia scene in the first movie!

**Lexi8:** Thanks! Intensity is what I'm striving for…never thought I'd enjoy writing this so much!

**Linchi:** I do plan on telling, as sort of an interlude/flashback halfway through. For now, this chapter will give you a little more info.

**KC GoblinCat: **Wow, I didn't realize this was you at first, since you just signed it KC. You're the horror queen, and I'm glad that you're enjoying this!

**Ninjalara:** Hey, another one of my favorite authors! You win the intuition prize…you're the only one that guessed where I was going with this. Glad you stopped by. Actually, I've never seen the original Dawn of the Dead, but I did read reviews of it while researching this story. They seemed to take much more of a psychological approach with that movie, which intrigues me. When I have time, I'd definitely like to see it.

**Blix:** Oh, I've a helluva lot of obstacles in store…

**Reluctant Dragon:** No, I haven't read that book, but it sounds interesting. I may have to go searching! Thanks for the idea.

**Kristy99:** Very intuitive. Now, as long as you don't pee your pants…

**Silver Snow Leopard: **Sorry it took so long! I'll try to be better next time!

**Black Mirror:** I appreciate you giving it a chance. Hope that I continue to entertain you. If not, I'm always open to constructive criticism…that goes for the rest of you reviewers too!

**Lunar-Ninja:** Say thanks to Rijinn for stopping by! He's welcome any time.

**Mickis:** (Blush) That was quite a compliment coming from you…I prefer the green guys alive too…I wouldn't be that mean, would I?

**Brigitta:** Remember to breathe this time – I wouldn't want to lose you!

**Quesun:** Better late than never, I always say! I've been behind lately too. Glad that I'm freaking you out.

**T:** Yes, the cartoon episode this week was pretty coincidental. This one's a little longer for ya!

**SMN:** Thanks for stopping by!

**Sporkey:** Hey babe! Thanks for the compliment…now, you better update No Regrets before I come and kick your butt... 

**Amy: **Hey, joggers high! That's awesome…I'm a runner, so I can really appreciate that comment.

**Auri1:** A fellow twisted mind! Thanks for your review, I hope that the suspense meets your expectations!

Okay Leo fans, since there seem to be so many of you, I decided to do his POV instead of April like I originally planned. Doing my best to please the masses…enjoy!

Also, as a side note, I didn't have a beta reader for this chapter, so I apologize for any mistakes that I didn't catch on my own.

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Disclaimer: You know what it is.****_

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Plague – An epidemic of disease attended by great mortality._**

"**_Pestilence, disease, and war  
_**_**haunt this sorry place.  
**__**And nothing lasts forever;  
**_**_that's a truth we have to face."  
_****-The Book of Counted Sorrows**

**CHAPTER 4: VOICES IN THE NIGHT**

**LEONARDO**

The darkness was becoming deeper.

Storm clouds were rolling in from the west, their ominous forms blacker than the night itself. They quickly blotted out the stars, the light of the moon fading in and out as they passed. It was almost as if nature could feel the energy of the ensuing chaos and panic.

I watched April, her face buried against Mike's shoulder. He had his hand over her ear, fingers lightly stroking her hair as he attempted to shield her from the screaming on the street below. The more people that gathered, the louder it got. Soon, the individual voices blended as one, becoming a harsh pitched wail in the background.

It was strange, seeing my brother so stoic. Normally he would be emotionally lost in a situation like this. We'd gotten used to Mike covering up his fear by making jokes and running his mouth. I was grateful that he'd grown up enough to recognize the needs of someone else, and to be able to act appropriately on that need.

Or maybe he was garnering as much comfort from April as she was from him.

I knew I was pacing, but I couldn't stop thinking about Raph, Don, and Casey. Donatello had said that two men broke into Casey's apartment, and that something was horribly wrong with them. Casey lived around four miles from here…which meant that this was spreading. I could only hope that they'd listened to me and gone somewhere safe. Sure, we could most likely fight our way back to the lair. But from what I'd witnessed so far, a single thought was nagging in my head. What if these people had some sort of disease? Could that be the reason that everyone's acting so crazy? And if so, getting too close meant possibly catching it. I didn't want to take that chance. I was pretty sure that I'd convinced Don, but I wasn't sure about Raph. No doubt he would put up a fight – he wasn't one to back down from any situation, no matter how strange. Especially when it was _my_ idea.

Stubborn jackass.

_I wished he'd call._

The sound of gunshots cut through the night like a knife. The aftershock resonated against the building walls, and seemed to come from right below us. Michaelangelo and April were immediately to their feet, eyes scanning the rooftop toward the ladder we'd climbed up.

Seconds passed.

Nothing.

I glanced back at Mike. He still stood frozen, listening and watching for a possible threat. I noticed that he had one knee bent, his weight shifted off of his left foot. Squinting, I saw why. Blood was collecting in a dark puddle on the ground beneath him.

"Jeez Mike," I approached him, concerned. We weren't in a position to be able to properly treat any injuries. I just hoped it wasn't serious.

"Let me see."

"Huh?" Mike snapped out of his trance, following my gaze and realizing that I that I was talking about his foot. He sighed, deciding to sit back down and lift his leg so that I could get a better angle. I took his ankle and got close, doing my best to see the wound in the filtered moonlight.

It was bad. Bad enough that I knew he wouldn't be able to walk in couple of hours. The swelling was already starting to spread to his ankle, and the skin was hot with inflammation. Palpating lightly with my fingers, I could feel a large shard of glass still buried in his heel.

"Why didn't you say something?"

He gave me a wan smile. "You guys are always giving me crap about being tougher…"

I chuckled lightly, smiling back at him. That was the Mike I knew.

"Shut your eyes, bro. I'm going have to pull this out."

"You sure? I was just starting to get use to it," Mike joked, leaning back on his forearms to get more comfortable. I started to take off my bandana, when April stopped me.

"Hang on Leo." She grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt, pulling it over her head. Handing it to me, she straightened the ribbed tank top that she was wearing underneath. "That's a lot thicker than your bandana. Probably cleaner too." she added.

"Thanks," I said, ignoring her sarcasm. I draped the shirt over my shoulder. Gripping the tip of the glass, I gently pulled up and forward, stopping when I felt his leg jerk. It was unintentional, just a natural reaction to the pain. I tried to think of a distraction.

"Hey Mike, you know what this reminds me of? Remember when April gave us those glass ornaments for Christmas?" I asked. While I talked, I pulled at the glass again.

Mike scrunched his face, wincing and thinking at the same time. "Oh yeah," he finally answered. "What were we, like sixteen or something?"

"Seventeen," April interjected. She knelt beside him, resting a hand on his arm. "I was so mad that you broke that. It was an antique."

He smirked, giving her his famous puppy dog eyes. "Come on April, it's not like I knew it was breakable. You _know_ I have to shake all my presents."

I gave one last tug and the shard came free. Blood poured over my hands, its flow now unimpeded by the foreign object.

"Shit Leo!" Mike's head ducked to the side, and I saw his breathing quicken. "You make a horrible doctor," he groaned.

"Sorry. At least it's out." I pressed April's shirt against the gash, hoping the bleeding would stop soon. It was a lot worse than I expected it to be.

Michaelangelo sat forward again, taking the shirt and his foot back from me. As he did so, my phone started ringing.

"Thank god," April breathed. She seemed just as worried about the other three as I was. I flipped the phone open, leaving bloody fingerprints over the cover.

"Donnie?"

"Yeah. You guys still okay?"

"We're hanging in there. Mike hurt his foot."

"How?" Donatello suddenly sounded worried.

"He stepped on a piece of glass."

Donatello blew a sigh of relief into the phone. "Good."

_Good?_

He continued, "Leo, when you were fighting those people, none of you got, huh…_bitten_, did you?"

"Bitten? No…" I was confused. "You wanna let me in on what you guys know?"

"We're barricaded into Casey's storeroom. I found a radio – most of the stations just have that stupid emergency broadcast beeping, but one has some guy that at least knows a little." He paused. "They think it's a neurologic virus."

"In English, Don."

"It means that these people are infected with something. Something that attacks their brain and causes rage and confusion."

"Kind of like rabies?"

"They don't know. Possibly. It seems like it's transmitted the same way, through saliva."

"What about blood?"

"Not sure, but probably not. If it _is_ like rabies, the virus travels up the body's nerves to the brain, and then is passed out through the saliva. It's never found in the blood. So you're probably okay, as long as you don't get bitten."

April and Mike were both staring at me, as anxious as I was to figure out what was happening. When I'd said the word "rabies", April's eyes had widened.

Donatello continued, "It seems like when a person is infected, they go into a frenzy and try to attack things. If they get a hold of someone, they either kill them outright or just maim them. So we end up with a dead body or someone else with the virus."

I suddenly had flashbacks of watching the movie Old Yeller. April's idea of course, she said it was a "classic." It was the only time I'd ever seen a rabid animal, and it had seemed so unreal that the cute fluffy dog could transform into something so vicious.

"Don, why now? Where did this come from?"

"They're still trying to figure that out. Genetic engineering, bioterrorism…who knows. They were talking on the radio about how last year two guys were able to create a synthetic polio virus from stuff that they ordered off the internet. Anything's possible. It could even be something as simple as evolution. The rabies virus could have mutated a gene. It happens in nature all the time, like with AIDS or Ebola. Rabies has always affected people, but it normally doesn't make them act like this or spread this quickly."

"So what do we do?" I was completely at a loss. I knew that everyone was looking to me for leadership, but this was definitely _not_ my area. I still had a hundred questions, but my brain couldn't form them into a coherent sentence. No matter how loud the screaming was, it still, somehow, didn't seem real. I was being gripped and shaken with the notion that things would never be the same again.

"I wish I knew. They're having reports of this all over New York City, even into the suburbs. I can only guess at how far it will reach within the next few days," Don answered solemnly.

There was silence between us. His voice hadn't held much hope. Through some clairvoyant force, I felt my brother's fear, felt it mix with my own uncertainty. The combination turned my stomach.

"Listen Leo, stay where you're at. My best idea is to ride this out for the next day or so. If we get a chance, _we'll_ come to _you_. That'll be easier, since Mike's hurt."

"Fine with me. We won't move."

"Good. Hey, Casey wants to talk to April."

"Sure."

I handed the phone toward April, who eagerly grabbed it out of my hand. She had just started to say hello when we heard shouting. Close. It was coming from right over the side of the building.

"I can't climb anymore, the ladder ends!"

It was a little girl's voice, high-pitched and on the verge of tears. April's hand flew to her mouth.

After a slight moment of reservation, I knew that we had to do something. Being seen by someone should be the last of our worries right now. Hell, by morning it might not matter at all.

I sprinted to edge, falling down on my knees so that I could lean on the cement railing. The darkness was making it hard to see, but I could make out three shapes on the top of the ladder that I'd cut off earlier. The little girl was closest, frantically feeling the bricks in front of her, trying to find a hand hold. There was at least eight feet of gap to the top of the building.

Michaelangelo was at my side, taking stock of the situation. Looking at him, I could only think of one idea.

"You trust me Mike?"

"Somehow I don't like the sound of that." He peered down at the little girl, realizing what we needed to do. She heard our voices and tilted her face upwards. We froze, waiting for the scream.

It never came.

"Please help us!" she cried, reaching out her hand.

I was perplexed by her reaction. Why wasn't she afraid of us?

Then it hit me. _Because she couldn't see us._ It was too dark, and the moon was reflecting from behind. To her, we probably just looked like big shadows.

Mike tilted himself forward, stomach resting on the cement. I grabbed his ankles. Trying my best to dig in my heels, I started to lower him over the side of the building. His weight instantly pulled against my hands, and I worked my fingers deeper into his skin.

What the hell were we doing? _This was nuts._

"Okay kid, I need you stand up as high as you can and reach your arms up!" Mike told the girl. I held him steady for a few more seconds, until he yelled again. "Leo, give me another six inches!"

I didn't know if I could. He was already too heavy, and with the added weight of the girl…

April, sensing my distress, came and wrapped both arms around one of Mike's legs. I knew that she couldn't do much, but a little was better than nothing. We sent Mike precariously lower, until I felt even more weight in my hands.

He had her.

"April, pull!"

Sweat broke across my forehead as we dragged the two of them upwards. As soon as his torso was up on the rail, Mike used his arms to lift the girl up beside him. From what I could tell, she looked to be somewhere around ten years old. She immediately jumped to the ground, panting.

On impulse, April put her arms around her. Without a hint of reservation, the girl came against her, allowing herself to be held. April made sure to keep her turned away from us.

Smart. The last thing that we needed was for her to start screaming.

The next person was a girl as well, but older, maybe late teens or twenties. Although she was heavier, she was also taller, which meant that Mike didn't need to lean as far over the edge. My muscles were in agony, but we managed to pull her up.

She took one look at me and almost fell over backwards. I heard her gasp before running towards April, grabbing at the two of them. Her hand caught April's shirt, and she started to pull April away from us. It didn't take her long to find her voice. She screamed, but not loudly – it was more of a whimper. Her brain was probably on overload. After everything that had happened tonight, how much more surprised could she get?

April turned to her, trying to calm her down. She was basically putting her hand over the girl's mouth to keep her quiet.

_Hey, whatever worked. We still had someone else to rescue._

The final form on the ladder, a man, didn't seem like he heard her. He was small, not too much bigger than the previous woman. It took a little longer, but we hauled him onto the rooftop.

_That's when all hell broke loose._

"Holy shit!"

Oblivious to the fact that we'd probably just saved his life, the man struggled away from my brother's grip. His jaw fell open, and his eyes got so wide I thought they were going to pop out of his head. For a moment he just stood there, still as a statue, staring back and forth between me and Mike.

I took a step forward with hands raised. "Hey, its okay, we're only-"

I didn't get a chance to finish. The man's hand whipped to his back pocket, emerging with something small and black.

_A gun._

He was the one whose shots we'd heard earlier.

I tried to move, but I wasn't fast enough. A hard, ear-shattering explosion rocked the night, and I watch a spray of blood erupt from my shoulder. It felt like I was on fire. I stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

The gun discharged again, but for me, the pain muffled the sound. My leg shuddered, and I realized that the second bullet hit my thigh. Refusing to succumb to the numbing effect of the shock, gasping for breath, I tried to stay standing. I couldn't.

The chill of the ground was almost welcome. Lying there, I desperately tried to fend off the welling darkness that pooled behind my eyes…

Then there was nothing.

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**Please leave a review on your way out! Good or bad, I want to know what you think.**_

_**The line about the two guys making a synthetic polio virus from things that they ordered off of the internet is true – it actually happened around two years ago. It's a scary world that we live in…**_


	5. Fighting for Leonardo

**Author's Note: **

Hey everyone! First, let me say that I'm SO SORRY that it took so long for me to update. Believe it or not, it actually took me all day to write this…the muses are not being kind right now. But hopefully I got the job done. I'm always grateful for feedback, good or bad!

Thank you ever so much to my reviewers. Each review is like a great big Christmas present. Love you all!

**Black Mirror:** Don't worry, Raph is back in this chapter. Things are really going to heat up with the three of them in the next one, so stay tuned for that one too!

**Mickis:** Again, sorry that you were sick! I think that I already responded to your bird flu comment in a review for Deputy Wildlifers…thanks for your compliments!

**SMN:** Believe me, the idea of OC's was a back and forth battle when I planned this story. The answer to your question is yes…however, they are supporting characters only. And I will do my best to stay away from the Mary Sue stereotype – in fact, you may not even LIKE my OC's evil grin I think it's more realistic that way.

**T:** I've gotta keep you coming back, don't I? I see that you have a new user name…congrats! Any writing going to be coming from you?

**Rianna: **Yes, I'm glad that I'M not in it either! Although, then again, I wouldn't mind being locked in a room with Raphael…(unlike Donnie, you'll see.)

**Sporkey Anonymous:** Hey girl! You know I luv ya, but I'm still waiting on No Regrets (smiles)

**Pacphys:** Thanks for the long review! Glad to see that you're enjoying. I don't think that I'll be disturbing you with another "licking" like scene…at least not in this chapter. As I go on, I make no promises!

**GemDrive:** You're review made me giggle. Bad ass April? Yeah, I can totally see it. You've put ideas in my head for subsequent chapters, LOL.

**Dory'sHumanReplica:** Well, here's a little taste…but I'm afraid that you might have to come back for the next one too!

**Governmentcontractor:** Thanks! I take that as a HUGE compliment coming from you. Great job on Cat and Mouse.

**Kristy99:** Thanks. I was hoping that I wouldn't lose people in my explanation.

**Brigitta:** Sorry to scare you! Hopefully you won't need a blanket for this one. But you DEFINITELY will for the next one…

**Sprite232:** Okay, I am SO SORRY that I forgot to thank you on the last chapter. AH! Anyway, I absolutely love your reviews. You are hilarious! Your feedback means a lot to me. Hopefully you aren't too mad about how long this took!

**Reluctant Dragon:** Yeah, I know, it was sort of out of the blue. But hey, maybe it's more fun that way! (At least for me! Muwahahahahah!)

**Lunar-Ninja:** Thanks, I hoped that that line would come across as funny. I bet that you did great with honor band!

**Lioness Goddess:** The good ones never seem to win, do they? Thanks for your review!

**Linchi: **Scary indeed. Now I have to get on you too….I want the prequel to RED!

**Fallen Hikari:** You made me laugh too. Some gratitude, huh? Don't worry, he'll get his. Sorry to leave you hanging for so long!

**Silver Snow Leopard:** Die? Leo? I wouldn't do that…would I? Cue evil laugh again: Muwahahahahah!

**Blix: **Hey! Don't worry, I'll give you a little with this chapter. But like I said to some of the others, the real action with those three is going to come in the next one. So hopefully you'll stay with me!

**

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And finally, I don't own anything. For that to happen, I would have to get a divorce, meet Peter Laird, get him to propose, and then get married. Even then, would I only be entitled to two of them? Anyway, somehow I don't foresee any of those events occurring… **

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"_**Death aims with fouler spite  
**__**at fairer marks."  
**_**-Francis Quarles, _Divine Poems_**

**CHAPTER 4: FIGHTING FOR LEONARDO**

**MICHAELANGELO**

The classic mistake in firing a hand gun is to let the recoil from the first bullet jerk the barrel. This allows little hope of the second bullet effectively hitting its target. Lucky for Leo, the man on the rooftop did just that. Because if he would have been hit squarely from such close range, my brother wouldn't still be alive.

The scary thing was, I still wasn't sure that we could keep him that way.

I'd been in enough edgy situations to know how to stay cool and concentrated. But nothing could have prepared me for the raw panic I felt when Leonardo's body fell still on the ground. For a moment, the whole world seemed to spin. I vaguely sensed a warmth across my cheek, and realized that I'd been splattered with Leo's blood. _Man,_ _I felt so dizzy…_

Then, suddenly, everything snapped back into focus. The gun had been redirected at a new target.

_My head._

I didn't think; I moved. With a speed born of terror, I spun to the left, sending a roundhouse kick at the man's outstretched arm. My foot connected with his wrist, sending the gun clattering toward the cement guard rail. He let out a pained cry, cut short as my second kick knocked him unconscious. His body collapsed with a dull thud.

A sharp sting radiated up my leg, and I did my best to ignore it. Damn hurt foot. I drew in a quick breath, then turned toward Leonardo. I was faintly aware of the little girl sobbing behind me, blending with April gasping Leo's name.

"Oh god, no. Leo…"

Dropping to my knees, my eyes scanned across Leo's unmoving form, trying to compute the sum of his injuries. I gently rolled him onto his back. As I did so, his head swung forward, revealing a deep gash across his temple. _Probably sustained in the fall, I thought. _My gaze then trained to his shoulder, which was actively squirting blood through the mangled bullet wound. The liquid cascaded in thick rivulets down his arm. I sat still for a few seconds, paralyzed, panting, hoping that I wasn't watching my brother die.

_Shit._

_Think, Mike!_

_Breathing…make sure he's still breathing…_

I pressed my ear to his mouth, still feeling theheat of his breath against my face.

_Okay, well that's good…now what?_

"You've got to stop the bleeding."

The voice came from beside me. Not April, but the other girl. The older one. Her speech was slightly shaky, laced with uncertainty, which was further evident in her hesitation to come closer. She stared at Leonardo, her face a mixture of shock and pure amazement. Seconds passed before she looked back at me. I was silent, letting my eyes plead with her for help. After a long pause, she relented.

Sliding down beside me, I watched her work her fingers under Leo's shoulder, head cocked to the side as she felt for something. I regarded her quizzically. Her face was mostly hidden by her hair, which tumbled forward as she leaned over. Although her arms seemed thin and frail in comparison with Leo's well muscled ones, her movements held a certain strength.

"The bullet…it went all the way through," she said, pulling her hands back. My eyes widened. "No, that's good," she followed quickly, sensing my worry. "It means that the bullet isn't still stuck in there. We don't have to fish it out."

I nodded in understanding. I sudden gust of wind whipped forcefully across the rooftop, causing me to squint. I bowed my head, reaching up to untie the knot in the back of my mask. Wadding it up, I pressed the material against Leo's oozing shoulder.

Leonardo took a sharp breath and moaned softly.

"Leo? Bro', can you hear me?"

_Come on Leo, you gotta wake up…I can't do this…not by myself…_

His chest started to heave up and down. I laid a blood stained hand across his plastron, which was vibrating erratically with the beat of his heart.

"Keep both hands on his shoulder, Mike!" April yelled. She was squatting beside the unconscious man, anxiously trying to wrestle his shirt over the top of his head. _Jeez, by the end of the night, no one was going to have any clothes left_. Finally successful, she ran back to us, laying the shirt across the other wound on Leo's thigh. "We have to get the bleeding stopped now, or he's going to go into shock," she said worriedly.

Within the next few minutes, the shirt April was holding was already soaked. Red drops began to form on the corner of the material, dripping steadily onto the ground below. I could still feel the pulse of the artery below my own fingers, and tried my best to stay calm as Leo's breathing became more and more thready.

_Oh god…_

**

* * *

DONATELLO **

"Raphael, would you sit down? You're driving me nuts."

Raphael shot me a malicious glare, and continued to pace around the small room. He twirled a sai around his fingers, switching hands every few seconds. One of his many nervous habits.

He was starting to remind me of a caged animal.

Casey was across from me, legs splayed in front of him, head leaned sideways against the wall. He let out a frustrated sigh, then held down a button on the cell phone. He brought it up to his ear. Being so close, I heard the automated voice on the other end._ "All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later…"_

"Anything?" Raphael asked, pausing a moment to look at Casey.

Wordlessly, Casey flipped the phone shut and closed his eyes.

Casey was worried. I didn't blame him. Our connection between April and my brothers had been cut off suddenly, and we had no idea if it was the phone company or if she'd had to deliberately break it. I could only pray that it was the former. Under either circumstance, we'd still been unable to call them back for over an hour.

"Dammit!" Raph snarled, heaving a sai at one of the boxes stacked at the back of the room. It impaled the cardboard, directly through the words "Christmas ornaments" scribbled on the side.

"Knock it off Raph, that stuff's breakable," Casey grumbled from the floor.

"Do you think it really matters, Case? Hell, there probably won't even be a Christmas this year, the way Donnie's been talkin'. No one will be left to celebrate."

Casey opened his mouth, then closed it again. He turned away, deciding not to answer.

"They'll protect her, Casey," I whispered. I tried my best to sound reassuring. He gave me a solemn nod.

I was pretty sure that he loved April. He just wasn't quite ready to admit it yet. For a long time, the two of them did nothing but confuse me. They played a constant game with each other, one day shyly flirting, the next being cold and withdrawn. Then, as I became more familiar with the ways of the world, I realized that this was completely normal. Normal in a really messed up sort of way.

My eyes wandered over to the storeroom door. Normally such a mundane object, it was now a source of quiet anxiety. Within ten minutes of closing ourselves in, someone, or possibly multiple someones, had made a game of throwing themselves against it. How they knew we were in here, I didn't know. Thankfully, the barricade had held. After a few low snarling noises, punctuated by a loud scream, all had become quiet again. At least for the time being.

We'd turned the radio off a few minutes ago. The station that we were originally listening to, the one with the government interview, had gone off the air. The remaining two stations had no new information, and broadcast conflicting messages. One was yelling to _"get out of New York while you still can!"_ and the other was begging people to stay locked in their homes. Both were giving me a headache.

I suddenly felt my nose wrinkle, a pungent odor overwhelming my senses.

"You guys smell that?" I asked, cringing.

"Wasn't me," Raph quipped, giving me a sarcastic smile.

"Seriously."

Casey started to shake his head, then jerked back in surprise. "Gah, I do now. What is that?"

Raphael crossed the room, sniffing the air with mock exaggeration. As he got closer, I watched his eyes squint together, a distasteful groan escaping his lips. "Boys, if I had to guess, I'd say we're sharing this basement with a dead body."

_Great. Wonderful. Could things get any better? If it smelled this bad now, I could only imagine what it'd be like in a couple of hours…_

Raphael turned his attention to the refrigerator near the door, seeming to notice it for the first time. He tugged at the handle and peered inside. "Hey Casey," he said, shuffling something inside, "You got anything in here besides…"

More shuffling.

"…freeze pops?" He held up a string of the brightly colored frozen ice.

Casey's face lit up for the first time since we'd come down here. "Whoa, I forgot about those!" He rose up off the floor, quickly but stiffly. "Throw me an orange one, I'm starving."

"Man, there are over 500 in a box, and you've got three boxes in here!" Raphael replied in amusement. "Why in God's name do you need so many freeze pops?"

"Hey, everything's cheaper in bulk," Casey answered, snatching an orange tube out of Raph's hand. "Besides, they go faster than you think. Donnie, you want one?"

"Sure, why not?" Raphael started to hand me a red one, but I pulled my hand back. "Anything but red. Those are disgusting." Raphael rolled his eyes, breaking me off the next in line, a purple one.

"Here," he said, tossing it with a bit of force. "This one's probably more your style."

"Thanks." I gave him a half smile, humored by my own joke.

We sat in a circle on the floor, the room quiet besides the crinkling of plastic. Casey went back for a second one, then a third, fourth, fifth…maybe he actually _did_ need that many freeze pops. The things you learn about someone when you're locked in a basement storeroom.

The minutes continued to tick by slowly, and I realized that some of Raphael's restlessness was starting to wear off on me. I needed something to occupy my brain, to keep out the morbid thoughts that kept weaseling their way through.

"You got any games or something in here Casey?" I asked, scanning the shelves behind him. Casey raised his eyes, looking at me from just under his eyelids. He was still hunched over and concentrating on eating.

"Jeez, Donnie, the world's freakin' ending out there and you wanna sit and play Scrabble? How messed up is that?" Raphael replied roughly.

_Of anyone to be stuck in a small space with, it had to be someone pleasant like Raphael…_

I shook my head, then went back to leaning against the wall. It was going to be a long night.

_99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer…_

**

* * *

LEONARDO **

_Awareness…_

_Pain. It hurts. Something's wrong…_

_I have to move! Mike…Mike!_

_So dark…have to wake up…open my eyes…_

_Falling._

_Hurting._

_Suffocating._

_Sleep…just go back to sleep…_

**

* * *

APRIL **

There was no thunder, no lightning. Just rain. Cold, hard, sleeting rain. I watched Michaelangelo, his body drawn over his brother's, doing his best to shield him from the watery onslaught. His face was frozen in quiet resolve. He wasn't going to let Leonardo die. Not here, not tonight.

It was hard to tell if Leo was improving. He would move intermittently, and the bleeding had mostly stopped from the wound on his thigh. I had peeled back my make-shift dressing to inspect it, finding to my relief that the bullet hadn't completely impacted his leg. It was more of graze injury, skimming the flesh away from a part of his thigh.

His shoulder still worried me. It continued to trickle blood, and looked horribly mangled.

_So much blood…_

"Was Jake okay?"

I raised my head, meeting the eyes of the girl across from me. Her voice was barely audible over the drumming of the rain. The younger one was sitting beside her, knees drawn up to her chest. Seeing them beside each other, I guessed that they were probably sisters.

Regaining my train of thought, I realized that she was talking about the man who had shot Leo.

"Yeah," I said, shaking my head slightly. "Just knocked out. He'll be fine."

"Listen, for what it's worth, I'm sorry," she continued, more to Mike than to me. "He…we were just scared. And confused. _Still_ really, really, confused." Her expression was soft, wet hair clinging to the sides of her face.

Tears welled up in my eyes. _Wait until Leo wakes up, then you can apologize to him…_

"I'm Tara," she said, extending her hand toward me. "And this is Abby."

"April." I took her hand hesitantly, watching the blood from our hands run onto Leo's chest.

I wanted to cry.

Sitting there, on the rooftop, the rain washing down over my face, I felt like I was drowning.

**

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading guys, and if you're so inclined, please leave a review and tell me your thoughts! You're all are what make this worthwhile…I'm really excited for the next chapter (as you could probably tell from the shoutouts). Maybe I'll even get started tonight! **


	6. Back to the Sewer

**Author's Note:**

Hey all! I was a little faster this time…

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone for reviewing. **Sprite 232** brought up a very interesting point in her (her? I'm assuming) review – she said that it hardly seems fair that I put in so many hours writing a chapter to give my readers only 10 minutes of happiness. So I thought to myself…what do I get out of this? A lot, I've come to realize. Mostly, a way to express myself about something that I've always loved, ever since I was a little girl. But also, I'd like to think that I've made a lot of new friends – even though I've never met you guys! It all comes back to those little reviews…they're like happy pills, I tell you! So please, if you're reading, leave me a little something when you're done…good or bad, it's nice to know that somebody's reading. You all make this extremely enjoyable for me.

A little personal thank you for each of you:

**Pi90Katana:** Hey girl! One of the nicest people you know? Wow, that really made my day. Actually, I feel the same about you…glad to see your story is doing so well!

**Dory's Human Replica:** Make sure that you're getting enough oxygen! It sounded like you were hyperventilating! I'm sorry, but you're going to have to keep worrying…

**GemDrive:** Glad you liked the insert. It originally wasn't there, and I added it right before I posted. And it seemed like it served its purpose well…tension!

**Black Mirror:** Oh goodie, you came back…I like the word flabbergasted too. Believe me, it's been pretty tough, but I'm glad that you think I'm pulling it off. If you enjoy reading about the TMNT in a more realistic sense, I can't recommend anyone better than sss979. If you're ever bored, check out her website.

**Linchi:** Yes, things have gotten worse, and they will continue to go down, down, down. Yep, got plans for April…

**ChibiRoseAngel:** (Running away in fright) Gah, please don't kill me! I gotta make you sweat a little longer!

**Goblin Cat KC:** My heart continues to flutter knowing that you're reading this. You rock my world, girl! (Okay, that was a very 80s thing to say…) Bad Places is truly one of the best pieces of fanfiction out there!

**Blix Howlett:** I know, freeze pops are yummy! Glad that you're sticking around.

**Sporkey Anonymous:** Hmmmm…(tapping my foot) I'm still waiting…(j/k, I luv ya!)

**Kristy99:** Oh, I don't mean to kill you! Thanks for reading!

**Sprite232:** Always a pleasure. Honestly, your reviews leave me laughing for at least a half hour. Please don't stop! Ever thought about getting a username? Or writing something? You're so darn funny, I'm sure that people would love you…

**Fallen Hikari:** Yeah, I hate to think how often the poor guys have to replace their masks, lol! In the new cartoon, my hubby always laughs at the fact that Don carries around his little "bag of tricks"…he's always got something fun in there!

**Reluctant Dragon:** So sorry! At least this one was faster. You made me giggle too – and hopefully I explained a little better about the dead body in this one. Jake an asshole? Maybe…at least so far. I have a feeling that your opinions of these three characters will constantly flip flop as the story goes on.

**Mickis:** Gotta love the fart jokes. Anywhere, anytime, always funny. Glad that you found your movie! I agree, boredom can be a horrible thing…

**EntropyMage:** Hey, a newbie! Glad to hear from you! Heh, only I know what will happen to Leo…(evil cackle) Thanks for reading!

**Lunar-ninja:** Yes, I got a lot of satisfaction writing about Mike knocking out Jake…what a loony!

**Pacphys:** Heh Heh, the hubby just laughs at me. He says that if Raph ever comes to my window, I'm allowed one night, no questions asked…as long as he can do the same with Heidi Klum! And the freeze pop scene definitely stems from personal experience – living with guys in college, the freezer was always full!

**Reinbeauchaser:** Again, so sorry that I forgot you last time! Bad Sassy! Your bit about using the freeze pops to cover the smell…I'd like to hear about that one! I put a little CSI reference in just for you…

**And now that my author's note is almost as long as my chapter, on with the show!**

**

* * *

Disclaimer: (Sassy stands up from her chair) "My name is Sassy, and I am a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Addict. As much as I want to, I don't own them." (Sits back down so the meeting can continue)**

Hmmm, it seems as if many of you should admit your problem and join the TMNT Addicts Anonymous meeting…

**_

* * *

Deep into the darkness peering,  
___****Long I stood there, wondering, fearing  
**_**Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dreamed before.  
**_**Edgar Allen Poe_, The Raven_**

**CHAPTER 6: BACK TO THE SEWER**

**RAPHAEL**

Something was calling me.

For a moment I wavered between sleep and waking, struggling with the presence that tickled my mind. A smell, a taste, a voice…

_A touch._

Cold. Icy. It feel away as I tried desperately to hold on…

_No!_

I sat bolt upright, hands pressed firmly against the floor to steady myself. It was so bright. Squinting, I felt my composure returning, and I remembered where I was -Casey's storeroom.

"You okay?" Worry laced Donatello's voice. His eyes were bloodshot, eyelids sagging from lack of sleep. He started to rise, but I waved him back down.

"M'alright." I shook my head and inhaled slowly. Two days of being stuck in this prison, and I was miserable. Borderline crazy. The air was so thick I felt like I couldn't breathe. And the reek of the dead body outside the door wasn't helping, either.

_Just a bad dream…_

No. It was more than that. The same thing happened every time I tried to sleep. Something was wrong.

_I needed to get out of here. Now. Or I was going to lose it._

"Donnie…"

"Shhh." Donatello nodded toward Casey, asleep beside me. He snored faintly. "Give him a little more time to sleep. Then we can go."

His answer surprised me. He'd been so insistent that we wait at least three days…

"Raph, I feel it too." Donatello's gaze locked with mine, and our thoughts tangled. Worry, uneasiness, fear – I found a mutual understanding.

_We both knew that they needed us. There was no more reason to wait._

"Feel what?" Casey asked groggily. He shifted onto his side, studying both of us with hazy eyes and tussled hair.

"Nothing, bonehead." I kept the emotion out of my voice. "You better do something with that mane of yours…" I paused, giving him a mischievous smile. "…We're going to find April. She'll _never _sleep with you if she sees you looking like that."

**

* * *

MICHAELANGELO**

It rained for nearly twelve hours. Half a day. Even after it stopped, the air held a chill that was completely unnatural for the time of year. The sun had never appeared that first morning, nor the one after, leaving the days gray and shadowy under the thick cloud cover. I couldn't have imagined anything worse for Leonardo.

He had a raging fever. Sweat ran in torrents down his face, unabated by anything we tried to do for him. His dreams were tormented, charged with delirium from his injuries. I couldn't understand why he wouldn't get better, why he wouldn't wake up. We'd stopped the bleeding…he'd slept for over two days…

_Open your eyes Leo! If you'd only just open your eyes..._

Of all the events of my past – the wrath of our enemies, the heat of battle, the chance of discovery – none of it could match the fear that I'd felt in the last two days. Even the world crumbling around me; it made no difference. I found myself constantly watching him, needing the steady rise and fall of his chest to reassure me that he was still alive. A few times, I'd seen April and Tara move to peer over the building, curiosity driving them to see what was happening below. When they'd return, I knew that April wanted to talk to me. Needed to talk to me. But she kept silent, understanding that I wasn't all there. I was losing myself right along with Leonardo.

The sense of worthlessness was indescribable.

Jake, as Tara had called him, came around just after the rain stopped. At first I thought he might be her boyfriend – I found out later that he was she and Abby's uncle. Initially, he'd acted just as erratically as before, shouting panicked obscenities, and I almost knocked him back out again. But under April's soothing, he'd managed to calm down. With Jake finally awake, she gave the three of them the shortened version of what Leo and I were, and how we had come to exist. As she told the story, I felt like a circus animal under their intermittent stares. Jake especially seemed unable to take it in.

Since then, Jake had mostly slept. I'd given him a nasty concussion, and the headache was bad enough to keep him lying still on the rooftop. He'd apologize nearly every time he woke up, but I could only nod in return. Until I was sure that my brother would live, I couldn't accept it.

I watched the sky, the evening starting to fade into night. I didn't know if I could handle another one. April and Tara stood some distance away from me, and I noticed that April was holding the cell phone to her ear again.

_Jeez April, enough already. The damn thing hasn't worked for two days._

I wanted to throw that stupid phone over the side of the building. _If I could only call Don and Raph…_

I needed them so bad it hurt. I'd never had to make the decisions before – there had always been someone else to fall back on. It was hard to admit, but I wasn't use to relying solely on myself. I yearned for Raphael's protection, Donatello's understanding of everything. Hell, we were still confused about exactly what was happening down there – April and I had heard snippets of the earlier conversation, but Leo was the one that had listened to Don's full explanation.

"Is he going to die?"

The question startled me. Abby. I hadn't even noticed her approach. The little girl sat cross-legged near Leo's head, looking up at me with big brown eyes. She was wearing flannel pajama shorts and a pink t-shirt, dirty socks with no shoes. Her sandy hair was disheveled, the long waves forming visible tangles. She looked so young. Innocent.

"No way, kid. I won't let him."

She glanced back at Leonardo, satisfied with that answer. It was the first time that I'd spoken to her – the first time that she'd come close without Tara. She had mostly clung to her older sister, watching, staying quiet. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. This was more than any child should ever have to experience.

Tentatively, Abby reached out, lightly running her fingers along Leo's cheek. She traced around his entire face, exploring his features much like a blind person would.

"Your skin is softer than I thought it would be. Not at all like my friend's pet turtle," she said in amazement.

I simply stared.

Bypassing his bloody shoulder, she rested her hands on his plastron. Leo stirred slightly. A shallow breath escaped through his nose.

"Do you feel things here? On this part?" Her fingers spread apart across his chestplate.

"Mostly, but not as well. It's duller."

"What about here?" She motioned to his side, the area in between the two parts of our shell.

"Now that…" I smiled at her curiosity, then stretched out to ruffle her hair, "…tickles horribly. Worse than the bottom of your feet."

She giggled. "Maybe if you tickle him, he'll wake up."

_If only that were true._

**

* * *

RAPHAEL**

"You got a plan?" I asked Don, helping him lift the boxes away from the door.

He shrugged. "Not really. I was thinking that we could maybe steal a car. I don't have a whole lot of trust in Casey's Stanza wagon."

"Hey Don, there is _nothing_ wrong with old Myrtle." Casey grunted. He was struggling to slide a heavy filing cabinet back against the wall. "But I guess I'm not one to turn down a new set of wheels," he added, smirking. "One of my neighbors has a wicked mustang… I've always wanted to drive that thing."

"I hate to dash your dreams, Case, but we need a _big_ car." Donatello patted his shoulder. "A van, SUV, something along those lines. Especially if we try to get out of this city."

Casey frowned, visibly disappointed.

"You remember how to hotwire, Donnie?" I had a vague idea how to do it, but I wasn't sure if this was the right time to test myself.

"Yeah. As long as there's not some freaky anti-theft device."

_In Casey's neighborhood? Probably not._

Donatello took a step backward, eyes fixed on the door in front of him. The way was clear. "You guys ready?"

_Definitely. More than ready. _I pushed passed him, grabbing the door knob. "Let's see what sort of messed up shit is going on out there."

But the door didn't open - at least not all the way. It struck something half way through its forward swing. I looked down.

_It was our friend the dead body._

The smell was absolutely rancid. It was a kid - couldn't have been older than sixteen. His skin held a bluish tint, and bruises painted his lower legs. I felt myself grimace when I saw his face.

There wasn't much blood – but that didn't make the death look any less painful. A crimson trail streamed down his face, runoff from a dark pool inside his ear. The boy's mouth gaped, spewing forward a mass of red tinged foam. There was a dark patch of necrotic skin on his neck.

With a disgusted snort, I lunged my weight into the door, shifting the decaying corpse back from the storeroom entrance. Casey and Don followed me through, my brother pausing to gawk at the body.

"He must have died throwing himself against the door," he stated flatly, nudging the body with his toe. "Either that, or the virus overtook him. All that froth must be from his salivary gland and - "

"Who gives a crap, Donnie? This isn't CSI," I snapped at him. My voice was harsh, but I didn't care. Every bone in my body was screaming with irritation. I wanted to find Mike and Leo.

Donatello was silent, choosing not to pick a fight.

With the basement clear of any danger, the three of us traipsed soundlessly up the stairs. I led, crouching low when I reached the empty door frame to the kitchen, listening. Coming back up to ground level, the mixed sounds of chaos were again evident through the room's windows. The distant whine of a siren, a chorus of car horns…I came close to the glass, looking in between the streaks of spittle dried to its surface. The deranged woman was gone, but she'd left her mark.

"Uh, Don?" I whispered, taking in the scene outside.

"Yeah?" he sidled up beside me. I didn't have to ask the rest of my question. He immediately saw the problem.

The street was jammed. Cars were everywhere, turned in every direction, some even tipped on their sides. Bodies littered the lawns; people weaved desperately through the pandemonium.

The city had become a concrete jungle. A battle zone. There was no way we were driving to April's.

Donatello unsheathed the bo from his back. His voice was low.

"Sewer. Move fast."

I slid the window open, greeted again with the stagnant odor of death. I landed in the gravel, moving instantly against the wall and running toward the back of the alley. The cacophony of voices made my skin crawl. I could hear the words of their screams, and I desperately willed my ears to shut them out.

When I reached the manhole, a knot twisted in my stomach. The cover had already been removed. I stared into the black filled hole, narrowing my eyes and trying to see into its depth.

_Aw, crud._

_Was there someone down there?_

I guess it didn't matter. We didn't have a choice.

Throwing caution to the wind, I leapt into the darkness, catching the metal ladder and swinging to the sewer floor. I scanned the tunnel both in front and behind me.

Nothing.

I was joined a few seconds later by Don and Casey. Donatello pulled the cover back over the entrance, and then paused to watch if anyone was trying to follow us.

"We need to jog for a while," Don huffed quietly. "I think that some of them saw us come down here."

I agreed.

"So, exactly how far is it to April's? I mean, is it any shorter from down here than up on the street?" Casey asked, breaking into a clumsy trot.

"It's not too bad," Donatello replied, "only about four miles."

"_Only_ four miles?" Casey yelled, exasperated. Donatello raised a hand and shushed him.

"Don, I ain't no marathon runner." His voice was quieter this time.

"Four miles is _hardly_ a marathon. You do realize that we do a six mile round trip every time we come here." Don grinned, shooting me a chastising smile. "And if you're Raph, half of it isn't sober…"

I shoved Don lightly in the shoulder. He pitched sideways, then regained his balance and pushed me back. I turned to look at Casey, who was already falling behind us. "Quit complaining, CJ. You know, things could be worse."

"Right Raph, but they could be a whole lot better too. Beach in Cancun, sipping on a margarita, watching all the chicks in bikinis…chicks that don't foam at the mouth and try to rip your head off."

I had to give the guy props for sarcasm.

Chuckling at Casey, I was suddenly aware that Donatello had stopped running. When I heard him swear under his breath, I knew we were in trouble. I immediately pulled my sai from my belt.

There were sloshing sounds coming from ahead. The volume and pace continued to rise, coming closer, and in the dim light I started to make out the shapes of human figures.

_A lot_ of human figures. But were they infected?

A feral shriek echoed shrilly through the tunnel.

_I guess that answered my question._

Briefly, Donnie looked like he was debating taking off in the other direction. We both knew that wasn't an option. Even if we tried to run, the effort would be futile – there was nowhere to go. We were going to have to fight.

I gave Don a bemused grin. Fighting was fine by me.

_It was going to be a long four miles…if we made it that far._

**

* * *

A/N: I know, I promised a little more action…but I got long winded, and it looks like it will have to wait until next time – please don't hurt me! I start Spring Break in one more week, so the next one (or two!) will come in that time. Luv y'all, please review!**


	7. Chaotic

**Author's Note:**

Hmm…it's been a long time. (Sassy smiles sheepishly) I hate to admit, but I actually had to go back and re-read my own story in order to write the next chapter. So my deepest apology goes out to all of you. Forgive me? I have a myriad of excuses (all of which you don't want to hear) but I'd have to say that writer's block played the biggest role. Finally, I just told myself, "Sassy, you're doing this for you. It's your hobby, your relaxation, your story. It's just a bonus if you can entertain a few people along the way."

So I got over it. And consequently, sat down and wrote the next two chapters straight through.

Okay, enough from me. I hope you enjoy.

SASSY

* * *

**Disclaimer:**

"Oops, I did it again  
I played with the turtles  
Got lost in the game

Oh baby, baby…

Oops, you think that I own them  
That I created four little gems  
I'm not that innocent"

(My apologies for that one. I don't know what got into me.)

* * *

"_**A hero cannot be a hero unless in a heroic world."  
**_**-Nathaniel Hawthorne** **

* * *

**

CHAPTER 7: CHAOTIC

**DONATELLO**

Until the age of sixteen, the whole sum of my ninja fighting experience had been with my brothers. Sparring nearly everyday, we learned the intricate moves of battle, growing steadily more and more skilled. Soon, it became more like dancing than fighting. We were good, and able to predict each other's moves. There was fluidity – the type that came from fighting with a partner equally practiced, equally talented, equally driven.

And then came the first battle with the foot.

Suddenly, it was a whole different ball game. Don't get me wrong; they were skilled. But their moves were choppy, unbalanced, and fraught with youthful inexperience. As strange as it sounds, it was hard to adjust to – like a batter swinging too hard at a change-up pitch. More difficult to predict. That, and the fact that it was no longer a one-on-one fight. Each of us had to learn to deal with at least three fighters at one time. One went down, another was there to take his place. Yes, _ninjitsu_ took on a completely different meaning. Stamina, and a lot of brute strength, became the name of the game. The fluidity was gone. And I remember feeling like I was starting all over.

I almost had to laugh – because after quite a few years, that same feeling of unpredictability was returning. This fight wasn't just going to be a different ball game. Heck, we weren't even playing in a _ball park_ anymore. Our opponents had no weapons, no skill…but the one thing that they did have was an urge to kill like none we had ever dealt with before.

Oh yeah…and we were out numbered nearly fifteen to one.

**RAPHAEL**

I held the sais firmly in my hands, stroking my thumbs up and down the prongs. The metal was cold, the tip honed to perfection. Adrenaline shot through me, anticipating the give of flesh and bone as it yielded to the hard steel. I could feel my heartbeat begin to pulse in my eardrums.

Fighting was imminent. And I was in the mood to kick some serious ass.

"Raph, stay to my right," Donatello ordered, taking a few steps away from me. "Casey, behind us. Watch our backs and take anyone that gets through."

"Uh…right." Casey's answer was full of uneasiness. In any other situation, I would have given him crap for being scared. Mr. 'Backyard Brawl' afraid of a few little psychos? But I suppose he had a good reason – the guy was weaponless. In our rush to leave his apartment, we hadn't taken the time to search for his bat. Or anything else useful for that matter.

Not a smart move on our part. Because fighting without a weapon meant fighting closer – and that didn't help the odds of being bitten. And according to Don, just one little bite was all it took…

"Hey Case, maybe after we're done here, you can buy me the three beers you owe me from that pool game," I said, shooting him a sarcastic smile.

"Like Hell, Raph. It was only two, and you know it."

I didn't have time to retaliate. The screeching got louder, and the dim light of the tunnel revealed a pack of raging, ferocious...well, zombies. That was the best word I had to describe them. Anything human about them had been lost; replaced by primal, animalistic bloodlust. Many of the faces were mutilated beyond recognition, hair matted with various shades of crimson. One, the first to reach me and slightly ahead of the rest, only had a single good eye - the other was hanging from its socket. It drummed up and down against the man's cheek as he barreled toward me.

For once in my life, I realized that I wasn't going to be the biggest freak in the fight.

Deftly ducking the man's flailing arms, I spun,taking him down with a kick that nailed him from behind. The forced wrenched the loose eyeball from its precarious attachment, sending it smacking into the wall, then rolling swiftly away down the tunnel behind us.

The sight would have been disturbing, if I'd had time to think about it.

The full group of people hit us like a tidal wave. So much for holding up a defensive wall, taking them out one by one. I hit the next attacker hard in the ribs, using the sai in my other hand to slice across her neck. Before I knew it, two more women were nearly on top of me. I kneed one in the sternum, then backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling into her older partner. The second woman's bruised lips contorted into a scream of surprise. With one sweeping movement, I had her pinned to the tunnel wall, forearm across her neck, a sai impaled in her stomach. Warm blood ran down through my fingers. I withdrew the weapon, then pushed her aside.

It was nice, not having to worry about ethics. Didn't have to worry about the motto, 'put 'em down, but don't kill 'em.'That was reserved for the Foot, for street punks, for youth who's only major crime was to be misguided. That _certainly_ didn't apply here. Because in all actuality, these people were already doomed. Destined to die from this crazy virus.

Nope, there saw no point in being gentle.

I spared a split second to search for Don and Casey, but they were lost in a swarm of pure chaos. There were people everywhere – whirling, thrashing, screaming. God, there had to be at least forty of them…

I started moving backwards, trying to clear myself more room to fight. It was dangerous to be this crowded. We needed to spread out, to move some of them back into the tunnel the way we came. I kept fighting, brutally, yelling obscenities and trying to draw attention to myself.

"Com'on you ugly freaks! Get your asses over here and play with me!"

It worked. One after the other broke from the main group, following my hasty retreat. Having more room, the first few went down easy. A couple of spin kicks. No sweat. But then, I realized that I had a bigger problem. Literally.

An absolutely massive man was eyeing me hungrily. His lips were curling up and down, saliva dripping down his chin. Puncture marks on his arm flared an angry red, rippling with the movement of his muscles. The guy had to be at least three hundred pounds. Twice my size. And charging at me with the speed of a freight train.

My eyes blazed. With a quick twist of my fingers, I reversed my grip on my sais, the tips now pointed downward like daggers.

I was going to skewer this guy. Nobody gives me a look like that and gets away with it. You know what they say – _the bigger they are…_

So concentrated on the huge bulk that was barreling toward me, I never anticipate the hit that surprised me from behind.

Suddenly the weight of another man pounded onto my back, his arm wrapped around my neck from behind. _Where the hell did he come from?_ The force of his jump sent me sprawling forward, my right knee twisting, the skin scraping off my thigh when we both went down. I didn't have time to yell, because before I even knew what was happening, my head collided with the cement.

Streaks of orange shot across my vision, and I nearly plunged into unconsciousness. I shut my eyes, tried to get my bearings, tried to ignore the burning pain in my knee. I was laying on my side, my attacker half under me, half still draped on my back. He wasn't moving.

But that was the only good thing. I panicked inwardly when I realized that I was no longer holding my weapons.

_Shit. Must have lost 'em when I hit the ground._

When I finally opened my eyes, I realized that a dark silhouette was hunching over me, reaching for my neck. Instinctively, I brought my free hand out in front of me. I just barely had time to catch the giant man's weight as he moved on top of me. He straddled my side, pushing the air out of my lungs and leaving my gasping. My hand pushed desperately at his chest as he tried to lean downward.

A moist warmth blew onto my face. Breath…and saliva. Death. Clenching my teeth, I willed my arms to hold the man's bloody teeth away from me. Vaguely, I heard a muffled cry from Donnie, but it was some distance away. Too far to offer me any help.

I drew on my anger, letting it drive me. Leaning my hips to the right, far enough to generate the force that I needed, I brought my knee toward my chest…

And used every ounce of strength to throw my left leg into the man's side. Momentum and gravity shifted the advantage back to me. The man bellowed loudly, enraged, but moved just as much as I needed. Tucking my shoulder, I barrel rolled out from under him.

Staggering onto all fours, I decided that it was time to go back on to the offensive. With a snarl, a lunged. There was only one way that this guy would go down…and I knew exactly where it was. As we came together again, I wove my fingers into the man's hair, pulling his head forward. With the back of his neck exposed, I brought my other elbow down as hard as I could.

The man's vertebrae cracked like an eggshell. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Feeling slightly disembodied, but victorious, I was back on my feet. My right knee was throbbing, pulsing in a steady cadence with my heart. But it wasn't broken. If it was, I wouldn't be able to stand. _Would I?_ I willed myself to forget about it, getting ready for the next one.

I didn't have to wait long for another opponent. Two women rushed me from the left, while another man came from directly in front of me.

In a matter seconds, three more bodies littered the floor. _Raphael eleven, Zombies nothin'._

"Raph!"

It was Casey. He was sweaty, and a little bloody, but otherwise uninjured. And he was holding my sais.

"Lose these?" He tossed them across the tunnel, both at the same time. I caught them easily.

"Thanks bud. I knew we brought you along for somethin'."

Like we had so many times in the past, the two of us fought side by side, making our way back towards Donatello. Slowly, but methodically, the sewer was beginning to clear.

When we finally reached Don, he was finishing off the final three. They were male, young, all wearing shirts with the Greek letters TEK across the front. He took the first one down with his favorite move, a knock to the head with his bo, followed by spinning the weapon across the back of hand, then forcing the opposite end into the guy's stomach. Perfectly executed. But what it didn't take into account was how fast the other two guys were rushing him. And how tired he'd gotten, having to deal with more attackers than either me or Casey.

Before he had time to turn, one of the guys managed to wrap an arm around his shoulder. The second guy jumped onto both of them, throwing Donatello backwards into the wall.

Without thinking, I was already in motion. The sai left my hand in less than a second, soaring across the tunnel and embedding itself in the first guy's neck. His face froze. With blood spurting rhythmically from the wound, the man fell soundlessly to the ground. I was about to throw the second sai, when I realized that I didn't have to. Donatello rolled to the side, crushing the second guy between his shell and the cement wall.

I sheathed the weapon, letting out a sigh of relief. Casey whooped loudly. We were clear.

Or so I thought.

When Don turned back toward me, I felt my face go pale. What I saw paralyzed me.

Donatello's hand was pressed to his neck, blood weaving its way slowly between his fingers. His eyes were wide with terror.

_Oh god…it looked like he'd been bitten._

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Well, there she is folks. Thank you all for being patient with me, especially to those that sent me encouraging emails. You make the time spent worthwhile. As always, I'd love a review… **


	8. Inner Strength

**Author's Note:**

Hey everyone! As always, thank you SO MUCH for the reviews.

**Chibi Rose Angel:** Heh, they aren't dead yet Chibi chan! Have a little faith…

**Blix Howlett:** Yep, gotta love the blood and gore! (Sniff) Are you coming back to us soon?

**Medeah:** I can't thank you enough for all of the work that you're doing. I appreciate it! Wish I could buy you ice cream or something, heh. I'm so sorry, but you have to wait just a bit longer…

**Reinbeauchaser:** Don't hurt yourself with those fireworks! Fire good, burn bad! Sorry for leaving you in a bad spot, I know that Donnie's your favorite. And alas, with having to jump back and forth, you'll have to wait and see what happens with him…(evil grin) Thanks so much for the long review!

**Linchi:** Hey bud! I gave a little "shoutout" to you in this chapter – can you find it?

**Fallen Hikari:** (Waving) Hey! I think I'll keep my mouth shut about Donnie, sorry babe! Come to think of it, I think that I owe you a review for PoP…

**Sporkey:** Writing, drawing, it's all good! I'd love for you to send me some of your work…even if it's not for TMNT. You're so talented!

**Reluctant:** Miss vet-2-B! Donnie, a chance? Maybe…

**Mikaela's Spade:** Yes, bizarre is good. I like bizarre! Thanks for reading!

**Lunar Ninja:** Are you still unconscious? Heh, sorry about the disclaimer again…I better start running!

**Red Turtle:** Hi! Yeah, I'm a little behind posting this for TGU. Wish I regret, because it's a really great site that deserves more patronage. Gotta love freedom from restrictions…

**Ninjalara: **You have no idea how much I'm enjoying The Genetic Prison. You really are a genius. Thanks for stopping by!

**Kaya Lizzie:** Thanks girlfriend! Glad to get your nose twitching…and you're doing a great job with your story too!

**Nightwalker3:** Yep, I'm enjoying a few weeks off from work, but then back to the 'ol grindstone. Thanks for the review! I have to say, I enjoy torturing all of them…

**Pacphys:** Sorry to torture your Donnie-kins! You'll have to stay tuned!

**Isis-Lament:** Wow, thanks so much for the long review! It made my day! Glad that it's unpredictable – believe me, the big story defining event is still to come! And hopefully, it will be just as suprising…

**Pi90katana:** Hey T! I believe that I owe you a review too…bad Sassy for reading and not reviewing! I always seem to read your chapters when I'm really busy. I'm coming, I promise!

**Mickis:** Thanks so much for the review! Did he or didn't he? That seems to be the question of the day!

**Babyhilts:** Wow, what a compliment. I really appreciate the kind words. It's what keeps me going!

**XXXElektraXXX:** Yeah, sometimes I wish that I could play that song while I'm writing…I think that it would definitely put me in the mood, LOL. I really need to go download it! Thanks for reading!

**Kerrbear:** Glad to keep you in suspense. Thanks for the review!

**Quesun:** You love the horribleness? Great compliment! Thanks for the review!

**A Wingblade**: A new reader! Thanks, and I'm glad that you're enjoying!

Whew. Now all, I'm sorry to say that this chapter isn't going to calm your suspense for poor Donnie. It's one of those dreaded transition chapters – but important, none the less. Believe me, I am not normally a big fan of OCs…in fact, in the original plan, this story didn't have any. But as the story, and its themes, took shape in my head, I realized I needed a few more characters in order to develop the TURTLES in the way that I wanted. So rest assured, Jake, Tara, and Abby are NOT major focuses of this story – but they do have a specific role to play. And that means that they need at least a little bit of elaboration…

So please, just hang with me on this one. The action (and yes, Donnie) will be back soon! The next chapter is nearly finished, it'll be up by next week.

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Disclaimer: (Sorry Lunar Ninja! I couldn't resist...) **

And if you still have delusions  
That they are mine  
I'll hit you, baby  
…One more time

**_

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_ **

_"Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them."  
- **Richard Evelyn Byrd** _**_

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CHAPTER 8: INNER STRENGTH

**JAKE**

Forty-one years ago, almost to the day, my father had decided that his second born son would be named Carl Jakes. There was no middle name. Carl was the whole of it, for my father was a plain Midwest banker with an implacable horror of anything fancy. My mother made no objection, having already surrendered to her husband's wishes years ago with the birth of her first son, Tim. Not Timothy, just Tim. Also no middle name. Yes, sir, simple things were what my father liked, and my mother didn't seem to mind so much, even if it did extend all the way to her babies' names.

I don't remember how it happened, but to this day, Tim has always been called Tim, and I've always been called Jake. My mother even did it, although I'm not sure if she started it, or picked it up from those around her. One of my earliest memories is from a schoolyard baseball game, and the kid that owned the bat was choosing sides. He turned to my brother and me, and called out "_I'll have Tim and Jake_." All the kids did the same thing. The teachers, too. They called me Jake, even in kindergarten. Through high school, college, all the way to my first job, the name traveled with me.

But I'd gotten used to it, having no problem living my life behind a one-word name. I was Jake, always had been, always would be, to everybody. I was the quiet one, serious, content to let myself blend into the background. My whole life, I'd only had one steady girlfriend. Linda. We'd met in college, both accounting majors, but had broken up after graduation when I took my first job in New York City.

I've been by myself ever since.

My brother was my exact opposite. Tim seemed to take his simple, unobtrusive name as a challenge. To see how big he could really make the man behind those three little letters. He was a playboy – intelligent, good with women. He went to UCLA on an academic scholarship, became a doctor, and married soon after graduating. He and his wife had two beautiful daughters, Tara and Abby.

He became everything I wasn't, and had everything that I've always wanted.

Sometimes, I can't help but hate him.

Until two days ago, nothing even remotely interesting had ever happened in my life. Every morning, I went to work. Came home. Ate dinner, watched a little TV, went to bed. A very boring, plain existence.

Abby had been in my care for the last two days, after her parents flew in to attend a cancer convention at the New York Medical Center. Tara, who lives in New Jersey, had just driven up to visit, planning to spend the next day with her sister before they flew home.

Until the world had come crashing down…and my ordinary life suddenly took a dramatic turn.

In the last 48 hours, not only had I managed to hold my own against a horde of virus infected lunatics, I'd been able to protect my nieces as well. We'd gone from locking ourselves in my apartment bathroom to fighting our way to the roof, all the while, me, wielding a gun for the first time. Taking down anyone that stood in my way. Who would have thought that fighting for your life could be so empowering? Or that the quiet, shy accountant could play the hero?

Definitely not me. And even _after all of that_, I'd made one of the most extraordinary discoveries of the last century.

Turtles. Big, humanoid, _mutant turtles. _

And of course, being the bumbling idiot that I am, I had to tarnish my day of heroics by going and shooting one of them. Only four in the whole wide world, and I may single handedly be responsible for making it three.

Stupid.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid Jake._

But as sorry as I am, I can't help but feel sorry for myself as well, because I have feeling that I'm going to die before I get the chance to tell anyone about it.

**TARA**

The whole situation still held a sort of surrealness to me. Even as the smell of death hung in the air, and the screams of terror ebbed and flowed with the wind, I couldn't believe it was real. It was a dream – just a long, crazy dream that I was going to wake up from.

My parents might be dead. Hell, they probably _were_ dead.

But I didn't cry.

Maybe it was because we lost touch so long ago, their pride and hope lost on a daughter that was destined to become nothing more than a bartender. A girl that wore tight skirts and halter tops to work, hoping that an eyeful of her breasts might garner a tip from the businessmen visiting for a drink after a hard day. No, I definitely didn't live up to their expectations, that's for sure.

Or maybe I just couldn't believe that it could happen to _my_ parents. My whole life, I'd never been to a funeral. Not even for a pet. At twenty-one years old, death seemed a foreign and intangible concept that I couldn't wrap my emotions around. So I pushed the idea to the back of my head. Because if I didn't think about it, didn't cry, it couldn't be true.

Right?

As horrible as it sounds, I kept focusing on how dirty I felt. God, I wanted a shower. Or a bath, filled with scented oil and lots of bubbles. But even more than that was the desperate need that I had for a cigarette. So much so, in fact, that I felt nauseous and my hands had been shaking for the last few hours.

The turtle had noticed. Mike, April had called him. Although his major concern was for his brother, he kept a close eye on the rest of us as well. When he'd asked me what was wrong, I'd tried to play it off, saying that I was shaking from being cold. Too windy on this damn rooftop, I'd told him. But I was a horrible liar. He saw right through me.

"You addicted to somethin'?" he'd asked, flat out. Suprisingly, it hadn't sounded like an accusation. His voice held the compassion of someone that wanted to help, not just give me a lecture.

"Pretty insightful for a turtle, aren't you?" I'd replied. He only half-smiled back at me, and I instantly felt bad. "Sorry, that was kinda bitchy."

"S'fine." There was a pause. "You gonna tell me what you're on?"

I almost laughed. Did he think I was a crack addict or something? "Just cigarettes. I work in a bar. Being around it all the time, it's hard not to start up yourself. I hate to admit it, but I'm a pack-a-day girl."

"Cold turkey is a hell of a thing to have to put up with right now, huh?"

And that was it. No hassle, no crap about how I had better things to worry about. _Like staying alive._

I'd liked him instantly. Well, instantly _after_ I'd gotten over the fact that he wasn't human, which suddenly didn't seem so weird anymore. Not after the fact that the world was going crazy. It wasn't just his uncritical demeanor, but for the protectiveness that seemed to emanate from him.

Somehow, in this desperate situation, Mike made me feel safe.

**MICHAELANGELO**

The three of us were sitting along Leo's left side. Me, then April, with Abby stretched out beside her, head on her lap. April and I both watched Leo, while Abby's eyes gazed blankly across the rooftop. She would close them intermittently, as if trying to sleep, then they would flutter open again. Containing the same expressionless stare.

Leo's breathing was getting more shallow. It would slow gradually, until lack of oxygen would throw his body into a round of coughing. I could tell that he was in pain, even in his sleep. His muscles would tense, trying keep his chest as still as possible until the coughing would subside. Blood painted the corner of his lips. The idea that it might be coming from his lungs scared the hell out me.

He needed help, and I knew it. Antibiotics, pain medication, hell, even basic cleaning of his wounds. I had nothing to work with. We were sitting and watching him die.

"April?" Abby's voice was timid, breaking the silence. "I'm really thirsty."

April shifted, letting out a soft sigh. "I know, sweetie. I know." She rubbed her hand lightly up and down Abby's back.

"April? Do you think my Mom and Dad are dead?"

My heart skipped a beat. I'd been waiting for that question. Neither Tara nor Abby had mentioned their parents. I knew that they existed, because Tara had said that they were only visiting their Uncle Jake, not living with him. April shot me a panicked look.

"I hope so, Abby," she answered. "Maybe they're somewhere safe right now, thinking about how to find you."

The little girl, so strong until this point, stronger than someone her age should be, finally broke down. She shuddered; then her shoulders began to shake. As she drew her next breath, it came up from her belly in a sob.

April pulled her closer, rocking gently. Abby cried. Hard. And instead of just sitting and listening, I made a decision.

"I'm going down there."

Stunned, April didn't answer. Abby withdrew slightly from her embrace, regarding me behind a wall of tears.

"We need water. Food. And Leo needs antibiotics," I stated firmly. "I'm going down."

April was staring at me. Her hair was almost golden in the diffused light of the moon. It was hanging forward over her face, parted by the sweep of her brow. Her expression looked exhausted, but her eyes held only one emotion – concern.

"Mike, you can't."

"I have to."

"But shouldn't we wait for-"

I gripped her shoulders, gently, but still firm. "April, he's gonna die if I don't do something. I'm not going to just sit around and watch it to happen."

She grimaced, then nodded slowly. "I know…I just don't want to lose you, too."

Those words tugged at the corner of my heart, but I didn't have time for sentimentality I was feeling. Too much emotion and we would both fall apart. Instead, I grinned, pushing the hair out of her face.

"Give me a little credit. I'm tougher than I look," I said, straightening and puffing out my chest. "Besides, haven't you ever seen me play Resident Evil? I can kick some major psycho ass in that game."

Tears had welled up and spilled down her face, but she couldn't help but smile. I gave her a quick half hug, ruffling the hair on Abby's head with my free hand. "I'll go as fast as I can. Keep the doors locked while I'm gone, okay?" I joked half-heartedly.

Breaking the embrace, I afforded a quick glance at Leo before heading toward the cut-off ladder.

_Don't worry bro, I'm not going to let you down._

I spun one of my chucks as I walked, trying to psyche myself up, trying to forget about the pain that still lingered in my foot. Man, it was going to be interesting trying to get down off this rooftop.

I heard April's voice, barely audible as it trailed off behind me.

"Please be careful."

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**A/N: Thanks for reading guys! I'll be back soon...review? Or not...just enjoy.**


	9. Hope

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just like to play with them every once in a while.**

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"**_I can endure my own despair,  
but not another's hope." _**

-William Walsh

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PLAGUE 9: HOPE **

**DONATELLO**

The grab from behind fell under the general category of 'cheap shot.' But then again, what did I expect from a rabid, virus infected frat boy?

I felt his fingers dig into the side of my neck, slicing flesh, trying to pull me closer to his mouth. To his teeth. To his infection.

_Panic._ No time to suppress it, adrenaline permitted the emotion cascade out of control. A yell rose to the back of my throat, but the force of another body being thrown against me allowed for nothing more than an airy gasp. Balance lost, the three of us careened sideways into the cement wall.

The world spun. My legs shook. I lost my bearings. I had no sooner found them than I sensed a warm caress down the front of my chest…

Heavy and thick, blood was pouring across the plates of my plastron. I would have thought it my own, had the answer not literally been staring me in the face - a sai hung mere inches in front of my eyes, entrenched straight through the neck of one of my attackers.

_That was now two that I owed Raph._

An angry hiss blew low over my shoulder; I reacted simply, rolling sideways. A brittle _crunch_ echoed from behind me. It was the sound of over a dozen bones, broken in morbid harmony as my shell crushed the final opponent.

_Whew._ I could feel relief, but every nerve in my body was still on fire. Ninja training kept me alert, and I searched quickly for any other sign of danger. The sewer was quiet - dead, deformed bodies continuing to bleed out onto the cold ground. Casey and Raphael's dark silhouettes were the only ones left standing against the macabre backdrop.

We'd done it.

As I righted myself, one hand instinctively pressed against my neck in an attempt to quell the pain that still burned there. The guy's fingernails had dug deep; the skin felt sensitive and raw, a steady stream of blood still pushing its way through my thick fingers.

"Donnie?" Casey's voice was a mere squeak. It sounded so…_afraid? _

I glanced quickly to Raphael for some sort of explanation, but he looked just as fearful as Casey. Both of their eyes were locked on me. They looked like they were hardly breathing. It was an expression that I'd never seen on Raphael before; if it was possible, I'd say he almost looked _pale._

"What?" They were starting to freak me out. Yeah, I was bleeding, but it wasn't bad… The silence that followed my reply only served to deepen my confusion. "Seriously guys, what's-"

Then it hit me.

And I almost laughed. _They thought…_

"Raph, I'm fine," I smirked, getting a cheap thrill at the thought of Raph being so worried about me. "No bite, just darn sharp fingernails." I pulled my hand away from my neck, revealing the four red streaks. "See? M'fine." They both leaned sideways to look, inspecting the marks, letting the information sink in.

"Jesus, Don." Raphael took a long breath out, shaking his head. Then, in a display so un-Raph like that I hardly believed it, the guy walked up and threw his arms around me.

A hug. From Raph. Hell had finally frozen over!

I smiled – couldn't help it. Hot, sweaty, and covered in blood, it was the first time that Raph had _ever_ hugged me. At least since we were really little.

"Donnie, if you ever-" he sighed, inches from my ear. Being so close, I could sense his relief, and the brief surface of affection. Then, as quickly as it happened, the embrace was broken. My brother thumped me firmly in the shoulder, pushing me sideways. "-do that to me again, I'll frickin' kill ya myself."

"Ow!" I groaned softly, massaging where he'd hit me. But I was still smiling, on the outside, and the inside.

"You girls finished?" Casey joked, regarding us with amusement. "We got places to go, remember?"

"Yeah," I said, glancing behind us one last time to make sure that we weren't being followed. Still clear. Raph unceremoniously retrieved his sai, then set a quick pace into the darkness. Casey and I followed a few yards behind. As we walked, I started to untie my mask, planning to cover my neck, but I decided that it might be better just to leave the wound open. Let a scab form on its own.

Time passed as we traveled in silence. I was tired; even with so little distance covered, I felt like I was dragging. Raphael didn't look like he was faring too much better. Even though he was trying to hide it, his gait still had a visible limp to it. Funny enough, it was Casey who seemed the most alert, both his steps and his expression containing a quality of strong resolve.

"Hey, Don?" Casey asked, still staring straight ahead down the tunnel.

"Yeah."

"You think they're okay? Up on the roof? I mean, no one could get 'em up there, right?"

Poor Case. Still worried about April.

I paused, considering his question. I had all the confidence in the world that she was safe on the apartment roof. She was with Leo and Mike for gosh sakes. Yes, she was okay – for now. But what were we going to do when we found them? We couldn't stay up there forever…

"She's safe," I answered simply, patting Casey stoically across the back. But at the same time, my gut churned. As the days continued to pass in this madness, how long could she, _could we_, stay that way?

I took a deep, cleansing breath. No use worrying about that now. One thing at a time, first things first – we needed to get to April's apartment. As quickly – and as quietly – as possible.

I picked up the pace.

**APRIL**

A flutter. Soft at first, barely noticeable.

I watched Leo's eyes quiver with bated breath, not daring to move, less the movement propelled him back into stillness. To my excitement, his eyes continued to twitch, followed by a furrowing of the skin on his forehead. A low moan…

And finally, my prayer was answered. Leonardo opened his eyes.

"Shhh. Don't try to move," I whispered, laying a hand gently across his chest, trying to calm the confusion that painted his face.

He shuddered. _Whimpered._ The sound tore at my heart. Indestructible Leonardo, powerful and larger than life, now so broken. The sound must have frightened Abby, who took a few steps backward, but still stood watching.

"Mmph." Leo sighed deeply, trying to focus on me through a haze of obvious pain. "Couldn't ev'n 'f I wan'ed to." His irises flitted under blinking eyelids, first trying to see himself, then the rest of the rooftop. "Wha' happ'n'd?"

"You were shot."

The voice came from behind me, almost making me jump. It was Jake. He knelt beside me, regarding Leo with a mixture of regret and curiosity. "I didn't mean to…I thought…"

Leo tensed, an expression of fear. "M'ke?"

"Fine. He's fine." _At least I hope so_, I thought, taking a quick second to glance at the ladder across the rooftop, where Mike had climbed down a little over an hour ago. "He's getting you help."

"Hm." Leonardo's head lolled to the side. His body relaxed, and I lightly caressed my fingers between the plates of his plastron.

" 'M so tir'd."

"Go to sleep, Leo. It's okay."

The slightest of nods, and he was gone again. But the fact that he had woken, no matter for how short of time, gave me hope that he would recover.

_God Mike, please hurry_…

Moments turned to minutes as we sat watching Leonardo. Abby came back and sat between us, resting her head against my arm. Fidgety, Jake would intermittently message his temples, struggling with some inner dialogue that I could only guess at. Honestly, I really didn't care what he was feeling. I just felt…numb all over. Spent. Tired of waiting, of not understanding, or not _knowing…_

**MICHAELANGELO**

I stuck to the shadows. It was actually easier to stay hidden than I thought it would be. The streets were sprinkled with cars, turned in odd directions, sideways, or even up on people's front lawns. Debris was everywhere, but it was to my advantage. It made it even easier for a ninja stealth master like myself to creep through the abandoned neighborhoods.

The night was broken up by only pockets of commotion. The city was actually fairly deserted. A shriek now and then would pierce the stillness, and occasionally I had to duck and hide, but for the most part, I was alone. And that was fine by me.

I was also more comfortable roving the streets because I knew exactly where I was going. "Barry's Corner Drug Store" was at the end of 56th Avenue, less than a half mile from April's apartment. The store had a huge front window, and the displays held some of the most decadent looking candies that I had ever seen. I'd never forget the first time that I passed by – chasing after a street hood when Raph and I were out on patrol. There was a cardboard tree, with huge multicolored lollipops set up mere inches away from the glass. The sight was so mouth watering that it actually made me stop running. The kid - and the dufflebag of stolen property that he was carrying - got away. And I received a smack on the head from Raph for letting my stomach take over my brain.

Today, I wanted more from Barry than just a few lollipops. I needed to find something that would save my brother's life. Pills, bandages, _anything…_ I really didn't know what I needed, but I knew that I was going to look until I found it.

When I finally caught sight of the neon drug store sign, it was like seeing a river in the desert. Making a mad dash across the street, I made it to the door, praying for God to cut me a break and let it be unlocked.

God was listening. The door swung open without so much as a sound. And, in an even greater stroke of luck, I realized that the store had remained completely untouched. Items still sat neatly on their shelves, even the ones behind the back pharmacy counter. I let out a slow breath of relief. At least I didn't have to search through everything scattered haphazardly across the floor.

I went back to the pharmacy first. Leaping agily over the front counter, I began searching the labels of the hundreds of pill bottles. It didn't take me long to get frustrated. I couldn't even pronounce any of the drug names, let alone did I have the patience to read if they would be any use to me. I started to panic.

_How about bandages? Maybe those will be easier to find._

They weren't. But I did find them – in a cabinet near the back. There were big bulk boxes of different kinds. Some had gauze, some had brightly colored wraps. I finally found the box that had what I wanted. They were thick, big rolls, but they still seemed stretchy enough to be comfortable. I grabbed the whole box.

And then I was back where I started. Antibiotics.

_Think, Mike. Breathe. Okay, Donnie's had to get us antibiotics before…have to remember what they were called..._

I shut my eyes, trying to picture the big blue bottle that Donatello had stored in his lab. He'd given those pills to Raphael the last time he'd gotten cut up in a fight.

_Damn! Something with a P…_

_Pen…_

_Pentle…no._

_Pensa…no._

_Pen…dammit!_

_Pen…_

_Penicillin!_

Frantically, I scanned the shelves, then realized that the drugs were in alphabetical order. It took a minute to find the shelf marked "P", but when I did, the blue bottle caught my eye easily. I grabbed two, figuring that Leo was hurt badly enough that he might need a lot of pills before he could get better. As I made my way back over the counter, I grabbed a few plastic bags from near the register, then placed the two penicillin bottles into one, the box of bandages in another. The rest I planned on filling with bottled water. And at least a pound of good old fashioned candy bars.

As I pillaged up and down the store aisles, I hated to admit that I was actually enjoying myself. It wasn't often that my brothers and I got to go inside of a store. Heck, if you took away April's Antique Shop, the only time that I've ever been inside one is when I was trying to stop a burglary. And in those cases, you don't get a lot of time to look around. Humming softly, I filled my bags with all sorts of goodies. Advil, bandaids, matches, batteries, even a flashlight. After a moment of consideration, I even threw in a few packs of cigarettes for Tara. No sense in depriving the poor girl, even if it was bad for her.

It was going to be hard to carry all the stuff, but I had a feeling it would be worth it.

With my bags nearly spilling over, I paused a moment to think if there was anything that I was forgetting. Unable to come up with anything, I made my way back through the aisles and turned towards the door.

The sight that greeted me made my blood run cold. A man stood in front of the big glass window. He was completely still, and I could just barely see his face through the turned up collar of his trenchcoat. I felt my breath catch in my throat. There was blood spilling over his lip, running in a red streak down his chin. After another moment of pure silence, the man tipped his head back and let out a scream so loud that I could feel the sound vibrate me inside the store.

I was petrified. I didn't know if I should run, or fight…the one thing that I did know was that there was no way in hell that I was going to lose those bags that were in my hands.

I didn't get a chance to decide. Only seconds passed before the man's scream was answered. A chorus of shriek's began to sing with him. As I stared out the window, shapes began to emerge from the darkness. Before I knew it, there were over a dozen people standing in front of me, watching me like a cat watches a fish in fishtank.

Although the front door was unlocked, the zombies were so focused on me that they didn't realize. It was becoming more and more apparent to me that infected people seemed unable reason. They only had one thing on their mind – blood.

And they were getting more and more agitated with the glass window that kept them from getting it. The man in the trenchcoat began throwing his shoulder into the obstacle, and I chill ran through me as the glass creaked under his weight. When the rest of his friends began following suit, I knew that I was in trouble. There was no way that the glass was going to hold.

Unfortunately, I was right.


	10. Collide

**I don't own anything. Unfortunately, I do have to hold down a real job (although we all know that I'd rather be holding down Raphael in my bed...)**

* * *

"**_Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about._**"  
**- ****Trey Parker and Matt Stone**, _South Park, Ike's Wee Wee, 1998_

**CHAPTER 10: COLLIDE**

**MICHAELANGELO**

The glass window shattered in one giant explosion, the aftershock sending tiny shards across the entire front of the store. I held my breath, resisting the urge to throw my arm in front of my face. I couldn't risk shutting my eyes. Not for a second. Because a second was all that I had before nearly a dozen bodies were on top of me.

With a cry of distress, I tightened my grip on the most precious bag in my left hand, letting the other fall to floor so that I could grab for my weapon. There was one man a few steps in front of the others – tall, dark, and not at all handsome. He was barreling forward like a freight train. With speed that could only come from ninja training, I held my 'chuck in a reverse grip, throwing a punch at the man's face. Instead of connecting with my hand, the other handle of the weapon caught him squarely across the cheek. The bone under his eye shattered. The man screamed in agony, shuddered, then crumpled to the floor.

Victory was short lived. There were at least eight people to replace the first, with twice as many behind them. I didn't have a chance. I managed to side kick one man in the stomach as they approached, but the crowd forced him forward directly into me before he could fall to the ground. Oxygen violently leaving my lungs, I was swept backward in a wave of bodies, lurching into a display shelf.

It was a sickening demonstration of physics. We all had too much momentum to stop with one shelf. My shell struck the corner of the first, and with a spray of candy bars, the entire thing was spun nearlyone hundred eightydegrees. The other end managed to strike a few of the infected that were toward the back of the pack, sending them sideways and into another display. As the rest of us careened backwards, I felt the weight of a body against my plastron. It was fleeting, however, because as I struck the second shelf, the shape of my shell forced me into a reverse sommersault, and whoever was on me was vaulted straight into the air. I think that I managed to find my feet for a second, but all hope of righting myself was lost as I hit the third shelf, and finally the bottom of huge metal display case against the back wall. My head mostly hit the floor, and the sweet taste of iron exploded against my tastbuds, warm liquid filling my mouth. The entire display case swayed, then gracefully toppled down on top of me.

I was probably lucky that I was only half conscious when enormous weight of metal struck my left side. As it was, the pain nearly drove the breath from my lungs. With my left humerus as it's fulcrum, the top portion slowly rotated over me, the bottom feet ending pointed up in the air.

I was only barely still swimming in the sea of reality. Vaguely, I heard other screams of agony, but these quickly turned to cries of anger. It was all so loud – briefly, I let myself my mind daydream back to a time when I was a teenager…Leo, yelling into my ear like a drill sergeant, telling me to get my lazy butt up for practice. Me, ducking my head farther into the comfort of my soft feather pillow. And then, Leo hitting my shoulder…

…No. It was the display case. Someone was pounding on it, vibrating and driving the metal harder into my flesh. Tears began to sting my eyes, and I made every effort to blend deeper into the tile floor, giving anything to escape the pain.

And then suddenly, it stopped. Part of me relaxed, but the other part, the _ninja part_, snapped alert. If that someone wasn't pounding on the display case, where were they?

My left eye squinting painfully, I searched for a clue to what was happening. It took a mere second for my gaze to connect with that of another – a man's head was trying to squeeze in between the side of the display case and the floor, but his effort was in vain. The object was too heavy to move, and there was no way that he could fit through the small space between it and the floor.

The eyes on the pale skinned face were flat and dead and empty of all emotion, like chips of gray stone. I'd seen corpses with more life in their eyes. His body, however, was another story. With a screech of frustration, the man once again disappeared from sight. Before I could brace myself, he began pounding against the outside, trying desperately to get to me. Each hit drove the corner of one of the shelves hard against my left arm. So hard, in fact, that it felt like the bone was on the verge of breaking.

As the minutes passed, the pain began wrapping me in a feeling of safety, both false and dangerous. I recognized it, and although my heart screamed, I didn't feel like I had the energy to deal with it.

…_Mike…Michaelangelo…_

That damn dream again.

…_Go away, Leo. I'm too tired to practice today._

…_Mike, get up._

…_Nnn..No. I'm sleeping in today._

…_Mike, they need you. I need you._

The dream changed. I was on the rooftop – blood spraying across my plastron, Leo on the ground, blood everywhere, April screaming…

…_Leo? Leo!_

Instantly, Leonardo's voice was gone. My vision spun, then suddenly seemed to explode. The heavy slap of rubber soled boots against the tile floor jerked my fuzzy conscious back to reality.

The drugstore. The breaking glass window. The metal display case. The pounding, and the pain. But now, only the sound of footsteps. The noise started loud, and then gradually faded away.

He was leaving. But why?

And where did everyone else go? There had to have been at least thirty people pouring into the store when the front window broke!

My only answer was silence. I let out a small sigh of relief. The infected people weren't smart enough to set up any sort of trick - if I couldn't hear them, they were definitely gone.

Now what?

…_Mike, get up._

Everything hurt. Shifting myself slightly forward away from the wall, I tried to move most of the weight back onto my shell. It took a few minutes, but I was finally able to free up my crushed left arm. Then, with both palms on the ground, I attempted to lift myself up off the ground.

Almost instantly, my left arm gave way. It wasn't broken, but the muscles were so flattened and deprived of oxygen, they hardly wanted to work anymore.

I wanted to scream. To die. To have _anyone_ there to help me…but it wasn't going to happen. If I was going to get out of here, it was going to be on my own power. And I _was_ going to get out of here. Not just for myself, but for Leo.

"Argh." I pushed up with everything that I had. I ignored the pain in my arm, willing the muscles to contract. Slowly, the display case began to rise. I was able to walk my legs up towards my chest, and finally, to slide out shell first. Free, I collapsed back onto the floor, lungs heaving to re-catch my breath. While I panted, I caught a glimpse of my left arm. It was a green palate splashed with purple bruises, some as bright as Donatello's mask. A nasty welt and indentation spread across my bicep, a reminder of where the metal shelf had rested. I winced, but reminded myself that it wasn't nearly as bad as it could be.

My rest didn't last much longer. After a couple minutes I was back on my feet, grabbing another plastic bag to replace the one that had been lost in the scuffle. I didn't bother searching through the disarray on the floor to find the missing bottle of penicillin – I jumped across the pharmacy counter and quickly found another. That, along with a couple candy bars and some bottled water were all that I took the time to grab. I'd wasted too much time already. I had to get back.

Steps filled with quiet caution, I made my way to the front of the store. I did my best to avoid the glass on the floor. Then, with ninja speed, I stepped through the window and moved toward a back alley. Just before I turned into the shadows, I had the sickening discovery of why I had been left alone so abruptly.

They were feeding.

Down the street, at least five blocks away. There was a huge swarm of them, milling about, covered in blood. A woman, on the outskirts, was obviously holding a human arm, chewing up and down the bone like a corn cob.

My stomach turned. They must have found some other poor souls, people easier to get to than I had been. I stood staring for a horrific moment, unable to turn away from the grisly sight…until one of them seemed to notice me. I won't lie – at this point, seeing those glowing, devilish eyes connect with mine scared me worse than a hundred foot ninja. I wheeled, tightening my grip on the plastic bag, running as fast as I could into the darkness of the alley.

I listened for signs of a chase, but all that I could hear was the sound of my own blood pounding in my ears.

_Don't look back, my brain told me. _

_Just run._

**

* * *

DONATELLO **

"Hey Raph, slow up. We're almost there."

Raphael didn't look back. He was at least thirty feet ahead of us, and had been for the duration of our trip through the sewer. Instead of answering me, he just kept walking, eyes forward, at the same exhausting pace he'd set for the last hour.

"Seriously Raph, do you want them to hear us?" I whispered loudly.

Again, no answer.

"Raph - "

"They aren't going to hear us, Don." His voice was annoyed, and louder than usual, which was clearly just to prove his point. "We walk this path at least twice a week and no one has _ever_ heard us." There was a pause, as if he couldn't decide if he wanted to voice the rest of his thought. "Even with Mike along."

Casey, who had stayed beside me, quickly shrugged his shoulders.

"Last time I checked, last week we weren't dealing with blood thirsty rabid zombies," I muttered, more to myself than to argue with Raph. At this point, it just wasn't worth it. I didn't have the energy to deal with whatever funk he had lapsed into after the fight.

Ahead of us, Raphael stopped suddenly, having reached the manhole that we were looking for. The one that opened up at the back of April's apartment building. Surprisingly, he waited for Casey and I to catch up before starting to climb up toward the surface.

As Raph moved up the first few rungs of the metal ladder, I again noticed him favoring his leg, like he had been after the fight. He'd done a good job disguising the injury while we were walking, but it was harder to cover up when he had to use each leg individually to climb. Suddenly, I felt bad for snapping at him.

"Raphael?"

"What?" He kept climbing, and I started up the ladder behind him.

"You okay?"

It wasn't just his leg. When my brother stopped and looked over his shoulder at me, I could tell that something else was bothering him, something much more important. Behind his mask, his eyes weren't stormy and sarcastic, like usual. Instead, I saw something else…an emotion that was normally kept from the rest of us by Leonardo.

Worry. _Intense_ worry.

"I'll be fine, Donnie. Let's just go."

**

* * *

APRIL **

"April?"

I started, pitched quickly from my thoughts by the sound of my name. A male voice – but not Jake's.

_Casey?_

"April!"

It was. Face covered with dirt and blood, I saw his mop of brown hair barely visible above the ledge at the other end of the roof. Then, suddenly, to Casey's surprise as much as mine, his whole body was launched the rest of the way up, obviously thrown by someone behind him. With a less than graceful landing, Casey rolled up to his hands and knees, then stood up stiffly.

What a mess he was.

A dirty, bloody, sweaty, _beautiful mess_.

I ran toward him, just as he started to grin that stupid lopsided grin of his. Within seconds, his arms wrapped around me in a blissful collision, one that lifted me off the ground and swung me nearly three hundred and sixty degrees. "Missed you," he gasped, the side of his forehead pressed to mine. I paused a moment, breathing in his salty scent, then pulled back and smiled.

"Funny, you couldn't have missed me _too_ much since you haven't called in, oh, four weeks. And don't tell me you were busy, cause that excuse only covers the last three days," I scolded, voice laced with sarcasm and flirty affection.

"Always so difficult."

I didn't have time to respond. Casey's hand raked up through my hair, pulling my lips into a brief, but hungry kiss.

"Hey Casey, ya mind giving me a hand before ya go gettin' a room?"

I pulled away, seeing Raphael's upper half draped over the roof's ledge.

"Sorry, Raph," I giggled. He rolled his eyes at me, then accepted Casey's hand to help him the rest of the way over. I was relieved to see Donatello's green head pop after Raphael's – _thank god_ the three of them were all okay. The red masked turtle turned to help his brother up onto the rooftop as well, with he and Casey each grabbing an arm to pull him over. With Donatello safely onto solid ground, Raphael immediately started to scan the rooftop, I could only assume for Leo and Mike. Although Leonardo was mostly obstructed from view by small brick utility encasement, his bloodied outstretched legs were still barely visible, probably even more so from his angle.

"Leo?" Raphael's eyes flew wide when he recognized the form of his fallen brother across the rooftop. Suddenly, he jerked out his sai with the speed of a whip crack. "What the _Hell_…" It was a statement, not a question. Raphael rarely waited for explanation. He was already in motion, before I could even part my lips to give him an answer.

"Raph, _wait!_" I tried to grab his arm as he brushed passed me, but he ducked away from my grip.

_Oh god... _

If Raphael wasn't held back when he found out what happened to Leo, Jake's head was going to _ROLL_…

* * *

A/N: Just a little fun for me after a stressful week of job interviews. Looks like I may be joining Fallen Hikari in the great city of Chicago...

Man, I can't tell you all how good it feels to finally write a chapter again! I told y'all, no matter how long it takes me, this story will NEVER be abandoned. It may just collect some dust in between chapters, LOL.

Sorry about any mistakes...I posted pretty quickly, seeing as I may not get another chance for a while after tonight!

SASSY


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